


Aoibheanne: The Shining Beauty

by LisaMack



Category: Dark-Hunter Series - Sherrilyn Kenyon
Genre: F/M, Remi Peltier/Original Female Character - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-04
Updated: 2016-05-07
Packaged: 2018-04-24 16:37:36
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 125,672
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4927102
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LisaMack/pseuds/LisaMack
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She's just a Squire from a long line of Squires... or so she thought.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

She kept her eyes squeezed shut while she tried to listen for anyone or anything around her. Although she was completely human, she could small that she wasn’t at home. This place had a distinct odor of male musk and roses. It was a strange combination that she was certain she would have remembered had she ever experienced it before, so she was even more determined to play possum until she had a better handle on the current situation.

Since she had become aware of her surroundings with her eyes closed, she figured that she must have been unconscious when she had been moved, so she tried her best not to look too alert just yet. Instead she kept her eyes closed, but was careful not to squeeze them shut lest she betray herself, and used her other senses to investigate. Beyond the scent of the room being unfamiliar, she moved her fingers ever so slightly to try to feel what she was laying on. Since her back didn’t hurt and she felt quite comfortable, she decided that she was on a bed or mattress of some sort. Her eyes very nearly flew open in surprise when she felt her fingers brush against silk sheets on both sides of her hand.

_So inside of a bed?_ She thought to herself. But whose bed and what did they want from or with her?

“Oh good, you’re awake,” a gruff voice thick with a Scottish accent called out from somewhere to her left.

She couldn’t help but to scowl at the unfamiliar voice acknowledging that she was conscious and somewhat alert. She was sure that her movements were minimal enough that they couldn’t be detected because she had been trained to do just that. In fact, her instructors had even lavished her with compliments of how well she did at faking sleep or unconsciousness.

_So how in Hades does he know that I’m awake?_

“Come my little primrose,” he commented conversationally as he gently ran the backs of his fingers against her cheek. “There’s no need for you to pretend with me. Please open your beautiful violet eyes Lass.”

Too confused and curious to stop herself, she opened her eyes so that she could see who was touching her. Sitting on one hip on the bed beside her was a handsome man that looked so solid in his upper body that she almost thought he was a body builder were it not for the clothes that he wore. He had on a traditional kilt in a clan’s tartan colors that she didn’t recognize and a shirt that looked so old she almost would have guessed that it had been hand stitched.

His unearthly, moss green eyes twinkled with excitement, although she reminded herself that that could have just been the fire’s light reflecting on them as well. His unruly brass red hair was pulled back and tied in a ponytail at the base of his skull, but his face was still mostly obscured by a bushy mustache and beard that matched the color of his pulled back hair.

Now that she had completely abandoned her ruse of sleeping, she tried to look around the room she was in to try to figure out where she was right then. Unfortunately his sheer physical size was so imposing that he obstructed the majority of her view of the room. That led her to believe that it couldn’t be all that large of a room to begin with. The bed that she was on was sitting flush against a wall that looked like it belonged to a log cabin. She reached out to touch the smooth wood and she could feel a slight breeze coming through the area between the large logs.

“Are we in a cabin?” She heard herself ask before she realized that question had formed in her head.

He gently pet her long brunette hair answering, “Aye Lass. Tis me wee hideaway where I come when I be needing some solitude.”

She swallowed thickly as a thousand thoughts ran through her mind at once. She he seemed to be able to hear her thoughts, she tried to make her mind go blank just as quickly. Right now he was petting her gently and speaking to her in reverent tones. She shuddered to think what would happen if he ‘heard’ her contemplating if he was a serial killer and how many bodies he had buried he had buried in his basement. That is if a cottage this size could have a basement.

She continued to try to slow her racing heart, but she just couldn’t seem to calm herself down. He had no malice in his eyes and his touch had been nothing but gentle and yet she couldn’t shake the feeling that he was going to hurt her. It would be easy to chalk that up to it just being paranoia born and bred from growing up in an era when horror films and slasher flicks were a primary source of entertainment for her generation, but she knew better. She had been raised in a world where vampires fed on souls instead of blood and people like her were raised to be the helpers of the immortal warriors that hunted them down. She knew that real life was stranger than any story an author or screenwriter could come up with and she was convinced that what was going to happen to her in the near future would be too gruesome for even the hardest of hardcore horror fans to stomach.

He seemed content to just pet the length of her hair in silence, so she tried once again to survey the room as quickly as she could now that he had moved closer to her. On the other side of the room at the foot of her bed and extending to left was a quasi-library with a living room type area with a large stone fireplace. The large crackling fire appeared to be providing all of the warmth which led her to believe that the cabins was primarily a single room dwelling. He shifted his body so that he could pick up a brush from the bedside table. She didn’t flinch or acknowledge when he started brushing her hair, but she did let out a silent sigh of relief that he had moved enough that she could see almost all of the rest of the room. To their left appeared to be a small dining area connected to a small kitchen. At least she hoped there was a because a major flaw with being human was that she still needed to eat to live, even if he was some sort of psycho that was going to kill her. To the left of the dining table was another wall with a door. That wall appeared to extend into the room a bit from the exterior, so she prayed that that meant it was the bathroom and that he had such modern luxuries as running water in this rustic style cabin.

He appeared to have finished brushing her hair because he was once again smoothing it down with his hand as he said, “Me wee bonnie Primrose, are you feeling hunger pains?”

She stared at him blankly because she couldn’t believe that he was talking to her as if she should be familiar with him. He just smiled warmly and then pointed to a large pot on his modern, state of the art looking stove and added, “Tis a fresh batch of venison stew and there be me homemade bread in the oven.”

She could now smell the bread baking so she took in a deep breath. Everything smelled so delicious that her stomach let out a very loud growl. She hadn’t wanted to let him know that she was in fact quite famished. After her body’s unconscious betrayal, she then began to wonder how long it had been since she had eaten. That thought was then quickly followed up by her nearly becoming panicked wondering how long she had been unconscious and what had he been doing to her while she wasn’t able to defend herself.

He picked up her left hand and gently tugged it saying, “Com now lass, let’s get some nourishment into your starving body.”

“Oh… no… that’s okay, I’m not… I mean, I’m fine,” she protested weakly because she truly did want to eat something, even if it was tainted with some sort of drugs.

“Aye you are quite fine… in looks,” he teased. “But your stomach is telling us you need to have something to eat. Please my Primrose, follow me to the table.” She opened her mouth to protest again, so he added, “If you don’t you’ll force me to carry you over there… although that isn’t much of a chore.”

Not wanting him to touch her any more than he already had, she smiled politely then answered, “Alright… I guess I could eat. Lead the way.”

“Ahh there be the wise Highland Primrose I remember,” he replied as he helped her off the bed. He then walked ahead of her into what she could now tell was a rather nice looking kitchen and dining area where he pulled a chair out at the table and waited behind it with a look of excited expectation. After she had eased her weight onto the chair he then pushed it in closer to the table. After he was satisfied that she was comfortable he moved around the kitchen behind her. From the sounds that she was hearing, she was confident that he was portioning out their meals.

Since she was once again alone with her thoughts, she once again took some time to survey her surroundings. First she noticed that she was still wearing a threadbare Green Day t-shirt that she had bought when she saw them in concert and her black and with plaid patterned flannel sleep pants. She felt her whole body relax slightly at the knowledge that she was still wearing the same thing that she had been wearing when she went to bed because at least that meant that he hadn’t stripped her and seen her naked. It was a small victory, but at this point in time she was more than willing to let herself become giddy about most benign trivialities.

From this angle the room didn’t look much different than it had from the bed. It still looked like a cozy vacation cabin that she would have loved to be staying in during her time off with a few friends. The fireplace did look larger when you were facing it straight on and she finally noticed a large wardrobe at the foot of the bed, but other than that she didn’t learn anything new or helpful. Although now she was curious to know if he only had clothing for himself in the large oak wardrobe or if he had a few choice outfits he was going to be expecting her to wear as well.

An involuntary shudder ran through her body at the thought. She had a rush of questions pop into her head at once, but she forced herself to wait until her captor was seated before she asked, “You said you ‘remember’ me… I’m sorry but are you sure that we’ve met before because I’m drawing a complete blank about who you are… and I’m sure that I would remember someone like you.”

Although she wanted to be anywhere but this cabin, she made a conscious effort not to let him see that. She added in some overly sweet flattery for good measure because really what harm could it do? He had been kind, courteous and complimentary to her, so hopefully he hadn’t poisoned her food in some way.

While she very slowly asked her carefully worded question he had started to dig into his stew so he nearly her awkward commentary elicited a boisterous laugh from him.

“Fret not lass, twasn’t in this fetching form that we last met. It has been more than one lifetime since we’ve met. And even back then twas quite a brief moment in time.”

She paused with her spoon halfway to her mouth before she asked, “More than one…? Do you mean…? I mean you think that I…”

He smiled broadly then answered, “Aye, you are the re-incarnation of a sweet lass known to me as ‘Primrose’ for her eyes were almost the exact match of her favorite flower.”

“Oh,” she whispered, trying to hide that her eyes were a vibrant blue, not violet.

She then took a couple of dainty bites of her food to force herself to think, slowly and calmly. As far as she knew hers was a new soul and that she hadn’t been reincarnated. In her family on her mother’s side there were a number of people for whom that was true and she had always been jealous of them for having exciting pasts. She had gone to a number of psychics that were well now to her family and friends and had performed every exercise and ritual available to try to uncover any hint of a repressed memory from a past life, but none of that had worked. It was with a heavy heart that she finally forced herself to accept the truth. Her mother was the reincarnated soul of a highland sheep-farmer, so she instead lived out her dream life vicariously through her mother up until the day she passed away after a valiant fight with cancer.

“Now sweet lass, what be your name during this life time?”

She swallowed the food she had in her mouth with a painful grimace before she very quietly answered, “Parker.”

He had a being of a strange look on his face, one she couldn’t decipher completely as he repeated, “Parker…”

She swallowed again and tried to sound more confident, without sounding annoyed (because that’s what she usually did when she thought that someone was making fun of her name), “Yeah my first name is Parker. It’s a family name.”

“Aye and it be a bonnie name at that lass.” He paused to pour her more ale into a stainless steel stein on the table. She took it gratefully because her last swallow of food actually had hurt her throat a little going down. “I did not mean to make it sound like I be judging yer name me Parker Primrose. I’m just not well acquainted with the name of these modern times.”

Despite all of the reservations she was feeling, Parker smiled warmly as she answered, “It’s alright, I’m just a little bit touchy when it comes to the topic of my name, especially if someone is poking fun at it. Not that you were but you know…”

“Nay lass, I don’t exactly understand.”

“Oh geeze. Well… what I meant was that a lot of people like to tease me about my name… they like to say hurtful things to me about it so whenever the topic comes up… no matter if someone is being nice or not… well I get a little bit defensive.”

During her explanation he continued to look confused but by the end of it he too was smiling warmly. He then raised his stein as if to toast Parker as he replied, “Defense of yer family and the ones you love, that most definitely be subjects that I understand.”

Parker smile sheepishly as a dark blush spread across her cheeks. She knew most of her friends had a hard time understanding what she was trying to say once her thoughts started to run together and her sentences came out as fragments, so she could only imagine what this man, who obviously wasn’t from the Twenty First century, must be thinking of her. It was bad enough that her modern English slang would be enough of a hindrance for effective communication between them, but then to add in her own awkward affliction of eternal foot in mouth syndrome… well she could only hope to keep from angering him too much because eventually she wanted to be able to get home and in order to do that she had to make sure she stayed alive, which meant staying on his good side.

Trying to deflect attention from herself and her awkwardness, Parker raised her glass and tapped it gently against that of her companion. That seemed to please him because his eyes softened and his smile actually appeared to hold more warmth than it had previously. After they each took a sip from their own cups, he promptly returned to his meal.

Parker studied him for a couple of bites, but still couldn’t place to what century she thought he might belong. Since he already seemed to think that he knew so much about her, she was curious to find out more about him.

_Where to start?_ She thought to herself. _How ‘bout the beginning?_

“And may I ask what your name might be?”

He dabbed the edges of his mouth with a napkin and the same familiar smile pulling at his lips as he replied, “Me given name is one that no one can say without stumbling over it. Plus to say it can invoke harm, but me friends call me ‘Spike’.”

“Spike,” she repeated slowly. “It… uhh… it’s nice to meet you.”

“As it is to meet you Parker. Now please, eat your ration. Your body needs the nourishment.”

Parker smile at his insistent, somewhat motherly nature of making sure that she ate. Before he could remind her yet again, she picked up her spoon and continued to enjoy the stew he had prepared for them. She was in fact quite hungry so it seemed like a reasonable way to appease him because with his size and unknown potential for magic ability she really wanted to keep him happy for as long as was humanly possible. After all she was the only one in the room who was purely human.

 

 

 

 

 

 


	2. Chapter 1

As the cab slowed to a stop in front of the club call Sanctuary, she could feel her heart start to race. She couldn’t remember the last time that she had felt this nervous or this excited, but she was sure that there had never been a time that both of those emotions had reared their ugly heads at the same time to make her feel as physically ill as she did right now.

She had gotten so lost in her thoughts that she actually jumped in her seat when the cab driver opened the door. He didn’t appear to take notice of her reaction because he instantly moved to the trunk of his car to unlock it and retrieve her luggage. She physically shook her head to help clear her mind before she slid out of the back seat. By the time she met him at the rear of the vehicle, he had already secured the trunk and had her duffle bag in hand to pass onto her.

“Sorry I spaced out on you,” she apologized with a nervous laugh.

He exchanged her bag for the folded bill she was offering him with an easy-going smile on his face. “Tis nothing _chère_. You’ve had a long day of travel and could probably use a good nap. I won’t take it personal.” He then briefly glanced at the night club where she had requested to be delivered. He shook his head with a playful smirk on his face as he turned to walk back to the driver’s seat as he teasingly called out, “Welcome to New Orléans. Enjoy your stay.”

As the cab pulled away from the curb, she turned to look at the final destination of her nearly day long trip. She took in the three story tall building with every make and model of motorcycle imaginable lining its parking lot and she couldn’t help but chuckle softly to herself. Dressed in a pair of khaki colored chino pants and a light teal colored blouse she could only imagine what he thought about dropping her off at one of the city’s most notorious biker bars. Even funnier to her was the fact that he had no idea that this was not the apparel she normally would wear, especially to a place like this. Instead she was wearing it to tease a lifelong friend, but now she was starting to regret that decision.

“Oh well, too late to turn back now,” she coached herself as she lifted her messenger style bag that she used as a purse and her duffle bag onto her shoulders.

Just as she had expected, at the entrance of the she met a familiar face. Although she knew that it had been so long since she had been here that he probably wouldn’t recognize her. With that in mind she put on a bright smile then cheerfully greeted the blond male in a tight fitting t-shirt, “Good evening!”

He lifted his chin from where it had been resting against his chest above his crossed arms to give her a quizzical look. She swallowed hard at the look on his face and instantly wished that she could take back her greeting because he obviously wasn’t the quadruplet she had thought he would be. She then shifted nervously from one foot to another in her place and lamely asked, “You guys are still open, aren’t you?”

An easy smile spread across his face at the change in her demeanor as he kindly replied, “Of course we are and we don’t close for a few hours yet so you should have plenty of time to eat, relax and enjoy yourself.”

He then stood up to open the door for her. When he reached for the knob it caused his shirt sleeve to ride up and reveal a tattoo of a double bow and arrow. Having her suspicion confirmed, she froze in her place and just stared at the ink on his arm.

 _It is Dev! Buy why isn’t he trying to hit on me? Did I become that hideous on the plane?_ She then remembered what she was wearing and silently groaned to herself. _Oh right. Like he wants to make a move on the new librarian in town. Why did I think that this was going to be funny?_

To try to cover up for her current demeanor, she jutted her chin in the direction of his arm saying, “Cool tat.”

He smirked and didn’t cover his chuckle as he replied, “Thanks. Enjoy your meal.”

She moved past him as quickly as she could without making it look like she was rushing past him. Once she was through the door she froze in her place as the familiar sights, sounds and smells assaulted her senses. There were a few cosmetic changes inside but it still looked like the restaurant her father had loved to bring her to for their ‘Daddy/Daughter date nights’ so many years ago.

“You don’t have to wait to be seated,” a deep, manly voice stated from behind her. “Just sit down at any open table and a server will bring you a menu.”

She jumped at the unexpected sound of his voice, but instantly settled when she heard the underlying laughter in his tone. She turned her head slightly to reply over her shoulder, “Thanks D---” She just barely caught herself before she said his name then tried to quickly recover. “Thanks Dude. I’m actually meeting someone so I was just checking to see if I could spot them before I found a table for myself.”

He stepped up beside her and gave her a quick once over. “Well I hate to sound like a jerk, but if he or she is dressed anything like you, they should stick out like a sore thumb. Do you see them?”

She shook her head with a sad frown and then took a step towards the dining room. Against her better judgment she stopped mid-step and then turned back towards him to declare, “I don’t usually dress like this.”

He raked her over with an assessing gaze then dismissively replied, “Uh huh” before he turned to leave and retreat to his post outside.

“I don’t,” she grumbled to herself quietly. _Such a stupid, stupid idea!_

She was still quietly mumbling to herself as she finally sat down at an empty table. The idea of dressing like a proverbial stuck up snob had sounded so funny in her head that she had gone out the day before her flight just to buy this outfit. Now the discomfort that she felt on her Tran-Atlantic flight didn’t feel like it was going to be worth it. Her duffle bag was filled with clothes that were not only more comfortable, but they would actually help her to fit in with the regulars that frequented this bar.

“Dev wasn’t rude to you on your way in, was he _chère_?” A kind, albeit concerned, voice asked her. The look on her face must have shown more of her confusion than her surprise because he server quickly clarified, “The bouncer outside, his name is Dev. He isn’t the reason that you’re grumbling to yourself right now, is he?”

The customer chuckled softly and shook her head causing a few strands of dyed black and blue locks to escape her messy bun at the nape of her neck. “No, no this is all on me. No one can make me feel as dumb as I can… or lodge my foot as soundly in my mouth. He was courteous and polite, I’m the dumbass.”

Aimée finished placing a glass of water and a menu in front of her then turned back to face her saying, “Alright then. I’ll just---”

“Holy shit!”

Aimée stared at her customer in wide-eyed disbelief as she asked, “ _Pardonnez-moi_?”

“I’m sorry, really I am… it’s just… just… look at you!”

Running her hands over her t-shirt to smooth it over her now protruding pregnant belly, Aimée just gave the seated woman a questioning look in reply. Feeling like even more of a doofus, her customer nearly jumped out of her chair as she horrifically stumbled over her explanation, “It’s just you didn’t… I mean I didn’t know that… why haven’t…” When she couldn’t find the proper words to complete her sentence she jumped out of her seat to give Aimée a crushing hug while exclaiming, “Congratulations!”

As soon as the customer’s hold on her started to slacken, Aimée gently pushed out of their embrace and held her at arm’s length. She really didn’t want to spook the other woman because she didn’t know what she was capable of doing to her, her family or her bar. Since she was an Arcadian bearswan, a human that could transform into a bear while also wielding magic, she could defend herself form most of her adversaries, but as a pregnant mother-to-be, protecting her unborn children was of the utmost importance. It was with that last part being at the forefront of her thoughts that treated her customer with such a gentle hand because she was hoping to avoid any type of confrontation at all costs.

“Look,” she started slowly in an overly careful tone. “I appreciate your congratulating me, but---”

“Oh gods!” Her customer interrupted. “Aims, I know it’s been a while, but come on… it’s me!”

Aimée frowned and then moved her eyes up and down the other woman’s body before asking, “Parker? No… NO! There’s no way that’s you in there Parker Wallace!”

Although it didn’t seem possible, Parker’s smile widened before she replied, “Hey! You’re the one that said I was going to come back looking like a female version of Giles from Buffy the Vampire Slayer after living in England for so long.”

Aimée pulled her into another crushing hug retorting, “I didn’t actually mean it! Unless…” She pushed Parker back to look at her again. Then in a very concerned sounding voice said, “Unless… I mean if this is how your clothing tastes have evolved since being overseas… I guess that would be alright too.”

Parker’s eyes flew wide-open and she looked thoroughly offended when she answered, “Bite your tongue! No, I bought this stupid outfit just as a goof on you! I even have a sweater vest in my bag, but it was just too much to bear while travelling for so long since you know some of us can’t teleport to where we want to go whenever we want to go there.”

“I hear you there Cub.”

“Oh shit! That’s right! I didn’t…”

Aimée quickly silenced her self-deprecating commentary with yet another tight hug. They both squealed out another sound of excitement and finally seemed content to just make random noises while holding each other in a virtual death grip.

The two women didn’t pay attention to anyone around them until they heard Dev tentatively ask, “Is everything okay over here? We’ve been getting complaints of a couple of banshees being let loose in the dining room that are scaring off all of our wonderful paying customers.”

As soon as the last word was out of her brother’s mouth, Aimée turned towards him and landed a bruising punch into his upper arm. He winced and immediately started to rub the spot to ease some of the pain.

“Don’t be a jerk, Dev. Especially since one of our favorite humans has finally returned home to us.”

She moved to the side so that he could feast his eyes on the now demure looking woman whose entire appearance (except for the random flashes of blue that he caught in her hair) seemed to scream ‘I don’t belong here’.

Parker recognized the confusion on his face straight away. She quickly pulled her hair out of its tie and let her locks topple out of her messy bun and down to the middle of her back before she nervously combed her fingers through it to try to tame it.

“I told you I don’t normally dress like this Dev, but my favorite AC/DC shit is dirty and I didn’t have time to clean it before my trip.”

The burly blond bouncer looked between his sister and the woman he thought was a total stranger a couple of times. When her identity still didn’t come to mind he gave his sister a pleading look because he was starting to feel bad that he couldn’t place their customer when she very clearly knew who he was.

Aimée wrapped an arm around Parker’s neck and squeezed her into her side while wearing a cheeky grin. “Come on Devereaux, you have to remember our little Squire in training that got shipped off to boarding school eight years ago.”

“Nine,” Parker corrected softly into Aimée’s side.

“Pardon?”

As she carefully extracted herself from Aimée’s hold, she repeated, “It was nine years ago. I was supposed to come back after I turned twenty-one, but then… well I decided to spend an extra year over there because my dad had wanted me to and all after… well you know…”

“Oh Cub,” Aimée breathed out before pulling her into a loving, much less intense than their previous embraces, hug. “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s alright,” Parker replied. “I know I’m not the only one that… anyway… so yeah, it’s almost been closer to a full decade since I was last here.”

While he watched her squirm in her place, recognition hit Dev. In a teasing voice both women were used to hearing form him he said, “There’s only one person on this planet that could speak in nothing but half sentences and still make sense to me… Parker Wallace is that really you?”

She moved around Aimée to step into Dev’s offered hug as she replied, “In the flesh.”

He smoothed down her hair with his hand as he hugged her whispering, “We missed you Cub.”

Hearing the earnest sentiment in Dev’s statement gave her a moment of pause because she wasn’t used to hearing anything but teasing or good-natured ribs being issued from him. When she looked into his now haunted eyes, she finally understood the sentiment behind his words and she could feel tears welling up in her eyes. She knew that coming home was going to be emotional, but she truly wasn’t prepared to deal with it just yet, hence her wanting to dress up as a joke for Aimée.

Choking on the tears that were threatening to overtake her, Parker hoarsely replied, “ _Moi aussi._ But I just had to honor his wishes… I hope you understand.”

“Of course you did,” Aimée answered. “Now enough about that for now. You must be hungry and I want you to fuel up as soon as possible so that we can catch up on everything. What can I get you to eat, Cub? And it’s on the house as a welcome home gift to you!”

Parker’s eyes now twinkled with unheard laughter as she said, “Ever since I got my ticket back here I’ve been craving a proper bowl of Jambalaya.”

Aimée laughed softly and replied, “No problem, one Jambalaya coming up.”

“And can I get a bottle of beer to go with it? And… and eat it at the bar?”

Parker’s excited tone caused both of the Peltiers to laugh. Dev scooped Parker up into another hug and actually picker her up off the ground.

“Now there’s the Parker bear cub I remember. It’s good to have you back.” After he set her back down on her feet he more soberly added, “But I should get back to my post. We’ll catch up soon… maybe even over a beer.”

He winked and then turned away to head back out the door. Parker could feel the heat of a blush coloring her cheeks, but she was hoping that the low lighting in the pub would help to camouflage it.

Aimée didn’t seem to notice her reaction (more than likely she did but she chose to ignore it to keep from further embarrassing her friend) as she picked up Parker’s duffle bag and started to walk towards the bar saying, “One bottle of beer and one Jambalaya coming up… at the bar.”

Parker slid onto a bar stool and made herself comfortable while Aimée placed both of her bags behind the bar for safe keeping. Before she moved to put Parker’s order in with the kitchen, the bear paused and smiled as she teasingly asked, “But are you sure that you’re old enough? I think I’m going to need to see your ID young lady.”

Parker laughed but when it looked like Aimée wasn’t going to budge, she sobered up to reply, “Umm… yeah okay… but you took… err…”

This time it was Aimée’s turn to let out a boisterous laugh before saying, “You always were too easy of a target!”

“Oh gods… I hate you so much!”

“Excuse you? What did you just say?” An incensed male voice questioned over their good natured banter as he not so gently placed a bottle of beer on the bar in front of where Parker was sitting.

Before the human could find her voice to reply, Aimée jumped to his side and placed a hand on his chest to keep him from moving any closer to the bar stating firmly, “Fang, relax it’s…”

“Fang? FANG!? This is your…?” Parker paused just long enough to thrust her hand towards the stunned looking wolf. “It is an absolute pleasure to meet the man who finally won Aimée’s heart.”

Fang stared at Parker’s out-stretched hand looking like he expected it to lash out at him in some sort of way. Aimée chuckled and hugged his side to try to reassure him. “Oh Baby, you’ll get used to Parker soon enough. Now come on, the cute little human doesn’t bite.”

He gave Aimée an unfriendly look at the tone placating tone she was using with him, but did nothing to stop her from moving his hand away from his side. When Parker caught a glimpse of the mating marks on their hands, she completely forgot about introducing herself to Aimée’s mate and grabbed both of their hands to get a better look at them.

“Wow, so they really are identical. That is so cool.” She looked up and caught the questioning look on Fang’s face. “Sorry! I’ve never seen your marks in person… or even a really good picture… not that we really talked about them much… but still… SO cool!”

Parker continued to scrutinize the intricate scroll work on each of their palms without noticing how it was affecting either of their owners. Aimée took it all in stride because she had been the same way when she had first seen her mating mark and that was even after having had a chance to see so many others during her life time.

However Fang was not so understanding. He didn’t try to withdraw his hand but he did project his thoughts to his partner asking _Umm… Aimée? Who or what is this woman that is mauling my hand?_

_Baby! Be nice! She’s human and a Squire; a Blood Rites Squire to be precise. We’ve known her family for a couple of generations. She’s harmless._

_Alright, but why is she not letting go of my hand?_

_You heard what she ---_

“Oh gods! I’m sorry. I swear I’m not usually like this…” Parker then dropped both of their hands and stuffed both of hers into her lap. “And I’m not psychic or anything… I mean I couldn’t hear you two talking or whatever you call it, I could just… well sorta tell by the way… anyways… Fang it’s nice to meet you after hearing so much about you. I swear I’m not this much of a scatter-brain.”

Aimée coughed into her hand to stifle a laugh at Parker’s last statement. The Squire blushed then meekly admitted, “Okay Aimée’s right, I totally am usually like this. But I swear I can focus when I have to. I graduated at the top of my class and was offered a full academic scholarship to more than one university here, in the UK and Europe, so I’m not… you know… I’m just excitable. Like a puppy.”

Parker quickly threw her hand over her mouth as her cheeks turned a dark red color. That action finally elicited a laugh from Fang. He then passed her the beer and said, “It’s nice to me you too Squire.” He then moved down the bar to serve another customer while chuckling to himself, “She’s going to be fun, especially with Fury around.”

Aimée offered Parker a kind smile then said, “Don’t mind him Cub, he’s just… well you know after everything I’ve told you. Now you just sit tight and I’ll got get your food.”

Feeling like she had embarrassed herself enough for one outing, Parker just took a long pull form her beer bottle and gave Aimée the thumbs up sign with her other hand.

 

                                                            **********************         

 

After Sanctuary had closed its doors for the night, well only to humans, as a Limani it remained ‘open’ to anyone from the supernatural community seeking asylum at all hours, Parker found herself tucked away in a booth with Aimée and Dev on either side of her. True to his earlier promise, Dev had popped the tops off a couple of beers for him and Parker to drink while the three of them talked. Aimée was contentedly sipping a cup of chamomile tea that was heavily sweetened with honey.

“So what finally brought you back to us, Cub?” Aimée asked once they were all settled in their spots.

Parker’s face lit up with an almost unnaturally wide smile as she answered, “I’m getting my own Dark-Hunter. The fact that he or she is going to be here in New Orléans is just a super, fantastic bonus for me!”

“He or she? You don’t know who it is yet?”

Shaking her head, Parker took a drink form her bottle to force herself to slow down her racing thoughts. “Nope. I was just told to be here next week and that I’d finally be fulfilling my duties as a Squire with a Dark-Hunter that is in need of one.”

Dev and Aimée shared a look behind Parkers back, but it was Dev that actually asked the question on both of their minds. “Next week? What are you…?”

“I was just so excited… surprise, surprise… that I traded in my ticket so I could… y’know reacquaint myself with the city and y’know… stuff before starting my new post.”

“That does sound like you,” Aimée commented in a soft, serene tone. She patted the back of Parker’s hand that was resting on the table top to try to comfort her. “You look worried about something, Cub. What’s wrong Parker?”

The human swallowed hard and then looked between the two bears nervously. Before she could get the words out, she diverted her eyes back to her bottle where her fingers were picking at the label on it.

Dev moved in closer to her side and tucker her hair behind her ear so that he could see the profile of her face. “Come on Cub, you know that you can talk to us. You’ve always been able to tell me and Aimée everything. I’ve never told anyone about your---”

Parker’s head whipped around to glare at him, but then she silenced him with a pleading look on her face as she interrupted, “Please don’t say it out lout now? Please Dev? It sounds so stupid and juvenile… Please Dev?”

“Okay, but will you tell us what has you going so quiet on us? We know that with it that’s a serious cause for concern.”

Parker gave him a half-smile at his attempt to tease her, but still remained silent for a couple of more breaths. The two bears were starting to get more concerned, but they managed to hold their tongues. Parker then drained the rest of the liquid out of her bottle and then visibly appeared to prepare herself for what she was going to say next.

She slightly turned her body so that more of her back was facing Dev as she looked at Aimée straight on as she asked, “Were you serious about your offer Aimée?”

“My offer?”

“Yeah because since I’m here a week early an all the uhh… well I don’t really… y’know…?”

“OH! My offer! Of course my offer for you to stay with us still stands! And if you can’t stand being around your Dark-Hunter then you are more than welcome to stay even longer than a week.”

“Really? Aims you’re the best! And I swear I’ll help around the bar even to help earn my keep!”

“Well that’s an offer we can’t afford to refuse,” Fang commented as he slid into the booth beside Aimée. His bearswan gave him a not-so-friendly look to which he replied, “Don’t give me that look Babe. You know you’ve been overdoing it and that we could use the extra hand.” He then turned his attention to Parker and asked, “So Squire do you know anything about working in a bar?”

Parker extended her hand across the table answering in a carefree tone, “The name’s Parker Wallace, but you can call me ‘Squire’ if you want to, I don’t mind.”

Fang reached out to take her hand but one of the lights caught something on the skin of the back of her hand that piqued his curiosity. This time he was the one who snatched her hand towards himself so that he could take a closer look at whatever had caught his eye. Parker tried to protest and pull her hand back, but she was no match for the wolf’s superhuman strength.

“Fang? Sweetie what are you doing?” Aimée asked as she reached out to try to pry his hands off of his friend.

Parker stopped struggling and actually leaned over the table to make it easier for him to look at her hand. “Aimée’s right Fang. You don’t want to hurt a poor, defenseless human.”

Fang scoffed and then managed to find what he was looking for. He tilted her hand so that Aimée and Dev could see the faint spider web that covered the back of her hand.

“From the looks of this I’d have to disagree with the ‘defenseless’ title.”

Aimée gaped for a second before she turned to Parker and asked, “Is that what I think it is?”

After Fang finally let go of her hand, Parker slowly pulled it back towards her. “You guys… and gal remember that I’m a ‘Blood Rites Squire’, right?” She didn’t wait for them to confirm this as true as she moved her hand around unit the black light in the club illuminated the intricate spider web pattern on the back of her hand once again. “Well it’s tradition for us to get this tattoo after we’ve been initiated into the… uhh… brotherhood.”

“Yeah we know about that,” Dev answered as he gently pulled her hand towards him so that he could get a closer look. “But usually it’s a big black tattoo, not one that’s invisible to the naked eye.”

Parker smiled coyly and started to absent-mindedly trace the lines of the spider web even though they were once again hidden. “Well that would be my parents’ fault. For as far back as I can remember my mom had complained about her tattoo. Don’t get me wrong, she was proud of our heritage and all that other stuff, but… well she also hated having such a big tattoo in such a visible place. She said that it made dressing up hard and y’know… Since mom had so many issues about hers, dad convinced me I didn’t really need it to prove my pedigree… everyone should just know my family name and all.”

“But you got it done anyways?” Dev asked.

Parker shrugged and looked embarrassed as she answered, “What can I say? Some of the other guys went out to get theirs done after we graduated and I felt left out. I figured if I got it done with UV ink that it would be practically invisible and that way I wouldn’t upset my dad. I mean he freaked out enough when he saw this.”

She undid the cuff of her left sleeve to pull it back and reveal a tattoo of a double bow and arrow. It was done in a realistic style with the bows being a brown color that looked like real tree branches and the arrow heads appearing to be made of real metal.

“Dare I ask why you got this one done?” Dev inquired with a playful smile spreading across his lips.

“Well since both sides of my family have worked in Artemis’ service for so many generations that I’ve lost count, I figured why not? People who follow the carpenter’s faith get crosses inked on them, so I wanted to get something that represents my faith.”

“Yeah but Artemis usually gets pretty testy about anyone having her brand on them if she wasn’t the one to give it to them,” Dev replied sounding genuinely concerned.

Parker pulled her sleeve back down to cover her tattoo and redid her cuff before she turned her body so she could more easily look Dev in the eye. She then smirked and countered in an almost grave sounding voice, “And how long have you had your tattoo Devereaux? I got mine as a tribute to the goddess that I have pledge my life to serve and you got your to what? Mock her? And what has she done to you for having her mark on your body? Because I’m thinking it’s a whole lot of nothing since you’re sitting here right now and able to bitch at me about my ink.”

“Whoa…” Dev said with his hands up in a sign of surrender.

“Cub, you know he didn’t mean it like that,” Aimée said in a placating tone while gently petting Parker’s right forearm. “You know he’s just concerned about your safety; nothing more, nothing less.”

All of the tension that had been building in Parker’s body appeared to evaporate at the sound of Aimée’s voice. With her whole body now slumped over the table she stared at her arm where her tattoo would be visible if she wasn’t wearing long sleeves.

“I know he didn’t Aims… I’m really sorry I went off on you like that Dev, it’s just… everyone has an opinion, y’know? And it’s my body so… I can make my own choices, right? None of the guys have anyone giving them shit about their tattoos, so why do I keep getting grief about mine? I know it’s just because I’m a girl and that’s such BS.”

Dev slid in closer to her side to wrap an arm around her shoulders and give her a side hug. “Apology accepted. And I’m sorry that I picked at an old wound like that. I trust your judgment and you can definitely make your own decisions for your body, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t be concerned about you, Cub.”

Parker turned to give Dev a proper hug replying into his chest, “Thanks Dev.”

After giving each other another quick squeeze, they both sat back in their spots. Aimée gave Parker’s hand a reassuring squeeze. The two women smiled at each other and seemed to come to an understanding without any words being spoken between the two of them. From where he sat on Aimée’s other side, Fang remained silent and just watched the other three while he tried to get a rea on the new Squire in town.

Parker noticed the assessing look on his face and seemed to be the first to notice that their group had been silent for an unnaturally long time.

“So, shifting gears…” the Squire started somewhat awkwardly. “Fang, you were asking about my experience in a bar? Well I started working in a pub in England after I finished high school and worked there off and on for the last nearly five years while I worked on my undergraduate degree. My school and living expenses were covered by my dad, but I figured it’d be a good way to take in the local culture. Plus… well… everyone always seems to end up here so I… y’know… I figured it would be a good way to meet contacts if I… umm well if… my Hunter was stationed there or whatever… y’know?”

The uncertainty in Parker’s voice caused Fang to crack a small smile. “Sure that makes sense. So where did you work the most? In the kitchen? Behind the bar?”  
“I did some bartending, but it definitely wasn’t one of my strong suits. The kitchen… well I worked in it a couple of times, but I swear I get like A.D.D. or something as soon as I start to make a meal. I really can concentrate when I need to, but stick me in the kitchen and suddenly I become like an untrained puh--- umm like a gnat or something.” Parker paused there to take a breath before continuing. “And before you have to ask again, serving… that’s what I was best at… I seem to do well with customers of all walks of life, if you know what I mean.”

“I think I do,” Fang replied trying to hold back his laughter.

Aimée was beaming at Parker’s explanation and reached over to take her hand to give it another squeeze. “Parker always was a social butterfly.”

Parker smiled then said, “Yeah… unfortunately that hasn’t changed since I was a kid.”

“Well that sounds pretty perfect to me. Now Aimée can concentrate on staying in the office with the books and off her feet while she’s in her delicate state,” Fang stated while wrapping an arm around his mate’s shoulders.

Once again Aimée gave him an unfriendly look that he promptly ignored. Parker could see the love they felt for each other and forced herself not to laugh at their back and forth because she didn’t want to anger her friend. She had learned a bit about Were-Hunters while she was at school during her studies about Dark-Hunters and their history but seeing Aimée and Fang together absolutely amazed her. From what she had read it seemed like the Fates used mating as another cruel way to punish the Were-Hunters for circumventing Apollo’s curse of his Apollite race. To her that meant that most of the matches were not a love match and were more just a pairing of two people who had just happened to fall into bed with each other. But when she looked at Aimée and Fang she knew that that was the furthest thing from the truth. It was completely obvious to her that, much like Aimée and Dev’s parents, the two of them were totally in love with each other and couldn’t have been paired with anyone else and look that deliriously happy.

“So… subject change… I mean now that we’ve determined that I can be a server without making a fool of myself… you two are too cute together. I can see the love you share… do you…? I mean you’re a bear and you’re a wolf… do you know if it’s…? Ummm… well now it just sounds… I mean it just…”

“We haven’t found out yet,” Aimée mercifully cut-in. “We weren’t expecting to start a family right away, but now we’ve decided to keep it a surprise. No matter what form they are in they’re our babies and we’ll smother them with love.”

“Wow, see your face when you say that… wow. I want to be your kid. Err… not that my parents… it’s just that you two… and after everything I’ve read, I just thought that love matches weren’t all that common… it’s just… it’s really cool to see, y’know?”

Aimée and Dev chuckled softly because this was the Parker they remembered of old. Even when she was younger she would say whatever was on her mind, but now that she was older she seemed to catch herself when her questions or comments might be overly personal or somewhat insensitive. Fang didn’t mind when people spoke their minds, in fact he appreciated a little bluntness every once in a while, but parker was still a bit of an enigma to him. Dev and Aimée seemed to be able to keep up her disjointed thoughts but he was having difficulties following her train of thought which in turn made it hard for him to form a proper opinion of the new Squire.

“Well you know us, _chère_ , we like to be unique here in New Orléans,” Dev commented with an exaggerated Cajun style accent.

Parker smiled at his playfulness then countered, “You can say that again! The number of Dark-Hunters that have gotten their souls back and gotten married… HOLY CRAP! It’s insane! Everyone at school were constantly asking me what was in the water here that makes everyone so freaking love sick!”

“I wouldn’t call it ‘love sick’,” Dev started slowly.

“More like being in the right place at the right time,” a woman added before sliding in to sit beside Dev. “You must be the Squire that Aimée’s been telling me so much about. My name’s Sam.”

Parker started to reach out her hand to shake the woman’s offered hand just as Dev moved to wrap his arm around the new woman’s shoulders. Much like she did with Fang, Parker quickly abandoned her handshake to grab Dev’s hand.

“You’ve been mated too? No way! Not… I mean… wow! Who’s the lucky lady?!”

Sam raised one of her gloved hands to wave at Parker answering, “That would be me.”

Parker’s eyes grew wide as she gaped at the new-comer to their table. “You… that means you’re… HOLY CRAP! I’ve read a lot about you… Aimée just didn’t mention you’re…” She finally reached out to take the previously offered hand of the Dark-Hunter. “Wow, I can’t believe it’s you. Oh shit… sorry… I know you have issues with… well not issues but touch is… oh gods! I’m sorry Samia. But seriously it’s a pleasure to meet you!”

Sam chuckled at Parker’s awkwardness then turned to Dev to say, “You weren’t lying when you said that she can be a little all over the place.”

Parker groaned and covered her face with her hands. Sam then turned her attention back to the Squire. “Oh sorry, I didn’t mean to embarrass you, it just that Dev tried to prepare me for your interesting manner of speech. Honestly, we’re good… I was just teasing. And don’t worry about the handshake, that’s why I wear gloves all the time.”

“Okay… thanks for being so nice.” She then turned to Dev to ask, “I’ve already molested your sister and her mate and… well I can’t touch your mate’s bare hands soooo… Can I pretty please have a look at your mating mark? Please? Pretty, pretty please?”

Laughing at the familiar tone she used to invoke to get her way when she was younger, Dev presented his branded palm to Parker saying, “Since you asked so nicely, here you go Cub.”

She cupped his palm in one hand while she gently traced the lines of his mating mark with her index finger.

“These are so beautiful… I mean for those douchewads to… gosh these look amazing. So… yours is definitely a bear and Aimée’s looks more like a wolf… does that mean that the animal on the mark is chosen by the animal of the male mate?”

Everyone just stared at her for a second, so Parker dropped Dev’s hand and quickly added, “It’s okay, forget I even asked… it really isn’t… I mean you guys don’t have to…”

“Parker, relax, it’s totally okay,” Aimée interrupted placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. “In all honesty your question caught us a bit off guard. I for one have never really thought about it since it’s the female partner who gets to make most of the decisions during the mating rituals, but now that you mention it, you’re probably right.” She then turned to Fang to ask, “Bride’s mark, it’s…”

“Just like Sam’s. It’s definitely a wolf mark.”

“Interesting. Well Park I think that’s your answer right there and you’ve made a great point. But we could ask around and see what we can find out about other people’s marks to try to confirm it.”

Parker shook her head and gave Aimée a grateful smile. One of the reasons she was so eager about getting home was to be around the two bears seated with her now. No matter what was going on in their personal lives, Aimée and Dev had always taken the time to listen to her. When she was a kid she thought that they were just indulging her, but as she grew older she learned that it was more than just that. She had always been inquisitive and then had always been available to answer her questions. She now understood that they didn’t just do it to be nice, instead it was because they loved her and wanted to help her to not only understand their world better, but her world as well.

“That’s alright Aimée, but I really do appreciate the offer. You know me… the questions just come out of my mouth before my brain can stop me from asking them. I’m really sorry about that, just ignore me.”

Aimée leaned over to hug Parker and placed a kiss on the side of her head. “No need to apologize Cub. You know we wouldn’t change anything about you, even if we could, but doesn’t matter because we don’t.”

“Cub?” Samia asked no one in particular. “I thought she was human.”

“She is,” Aimée answered with a bright smile. “But she and her family have been visiting here for so long that they’ve become adopted to our family a long time ago.”

Samia and Fang simply nodded because they more than understood what it meant to be accepted into the Peltier family as one of their own. Parker simply blushed at the compliment she heard in Aimée’s tone during her explanation. She remained silent as she let Aimée’s words sink in, which in turn caused memories she wasn’t ready to face to surface. It wasn’t that she wanted to forget her past, it was just that she was too tired from her travels in order to properly deal with any raw emotions.

When Dev had teased Parker that silence from her was a cause for concern, he had only done so while partially joking. As Parker had admitted, she had a tendency to let her mouth run away from her, especially when she was nervous. It was something she had tried to work on while she was away at school because she knew that the best Squires were the ones who knew when to hold their tongues. Although keeping secrets wasn’t actually one of her weaknesses, just telling people what she thought without considering the ramifications. That was one personality trait she knew would work against her when she attempted to endear herself to her Dark-Hunter, so she continued to try to retrain her brain, as difficult as that felt some days.

Aimée and Dev shared a concerned look at Parker’s continued silence. Dev covered her left hand with his right as Aimée placed a gentle hand on the human’s shoulder asking, “Are you sure everything’s alright Parker?”

It took both of the Peltier’s shaking her gently before she appeared to realize they were talking to her.

After quickly shaking her head to clear her thoughts, Parker finally replied, “I spaced out on you, didn’t I? Sorry about that, I guess my… oh now twenty hour travel day is starting to catch up with me. And that Jambalaya sure did do the trick to help make me sleepy too.”

The four people at the table with her chuckled. Aimée then hugged Parker once again then said, “Of course you’re tired! Come with me Cub and I’ll show you to your room.”

 


	3. Chapter 2

Parker knew that she must have looked like a crazy woman with her nose stuck in a book with a wide, goofy smile plastered almost permanently on her face, but in all honesty she didn't care. She had been away for nearly a decade and she missed this place almost more than anywhere else. Well anywhere but Sanctuary, that place truly was like a second home, but here, it was definitely one of her favorite places to visit. Her dad used to take her out for dinner to the bar, but when she had earned a special reward he would bring her here to the Café du Monde for beignets and hot chocolate. Now that she was older she could order chicory coffee just like he would always drink.

Although spending time with her dad at the Café was a treat, he wasn't the main reason that she like coming here. Since it had been decided before her birth, or her conception for that matter, that she was going to follow in her family's footsteps and become a Squire, she had been home-schooled and kept the same schedule as other Squires and Dark-Hunters from an early age. That is to say that she lived on a nocturnal schedule which meant that when she went out with her parents they missed most of the usual crowds and she very rarely saw anyone around her own age. That never really bothered Parker since she was going to be working for a Dark-Hunter who would be centuries older than herself instead of just mere decades like the humans with whom she spent the majority of her time.

It was amusing for Parker to live on the fringe of society and live outside of the norms she knew everyone else had to adhere to, but that wasn't what caused her to have such a thrill when she was at Café du Monde. No, that honor went to the man she secretly hoped to run into, or at least catch a glimpse of, anytime she indulged her sweet tooth. Well he wasn't really a man, he was a Dark-Hunter that her dad would help from time to time because he didn't have (or want to have) a Squire working for him. When she was a young girl she only knew him as 'Talon the Dark-Hunter', but at school she had done her research and now she knew how 'Speirr of the Morrigantes' had become the hunter she up knowing.

She had never told anyone (well she had confided in one person when she was too young to understand the feelings she was talking about) but she had always had a crush on Talon. It didn't happen often, but there were rare occasions when Parker's dad would have to run to help someone and Talon had volunteered to watch Parker until her father could return. Those were her favorite memories at the Café because he would tell her stories of his sister and the battles he had fought in during his mortal life. She would soak in every word while they shared beignets and she would try to steal sips of his chicory coffee. Most of all she loved that when she was there with him he would talk to her like he would most any other grown up. She never felt like he ever treated her 'like a kid'. He had been the first person to tease her that maybe she was the re-incarnation of someone he knew when he was a human because he always found it easy to talk with her. Deep down Parker always wanted that to be true, more specifically she wanted to have his wife's re-incarnated soul so that he would fall in love with her too.

Parker let out an audible sigh, staring into her coffee cup as she absentmindedly stirred it with a spoon. She knew that her feelings had been that of a childhood infatuation and that those hopes and dreams most likely wouldn't and shouldn't have carried over into adulthood. Despite her best efforts she hadn't found a single shred of evidence that she was a re-incarnated soul, let alone an ancient Celtic one. Now that she was older and had had more exposure to the world at large she understood that Talon had just been nice and kind to her like most people are with children. She had believed him when he said he was telling her the true details in his stories, but after researching his past she learned that his life had been much more brutal than he had ever alluded to when they spoke. Even worse was his death that he would barely talk about, even vaguely, whenever she would pester him and hound him to tell her how he had become a Dark-Hunter. Of course she now knew that that wasn't something that was unique to Talon. Most of the Dark-Hunters she had talked with weren't usually incline to give out details of their mortal deaths. Park now understood that the mere fact that she was meeting them as a Dark-Hunter meant that that death had been brutal and was usually the product of the worst betrayal or else their souls wouldn't have screamed out loud enough for Artemis to hear their call and offer them a moment of vengeance in exchange for an eternity of servitude to her.

Although Parker could acknowledge what she had felt as a child wasn't love like she understood it to be as an adult, she couldn't ignore that she still had feelings for Talon. Whether or not it was just those of friendship or if she truly was in love with him, she wasn't at all sure. All she knew for certain is that it was different from any of the emotions she had felt for the boys she had dated in England. But she was old enough and wise enough to remind herself that she probably wasn't thinking clearly when she reminisced about Talon. She had been a girl infatuated with one of the first males who wasn't a relative who had paid special attention to her. Parker didn't have to be a psychology major to know that that probably clouded her judgment of the mysterious Dark-Hunter, so she wanted to get reacquainted with him again as a woman so that she could reconcile the difference she knew would exist in her feelings as a young girl as opposed to those she would feel as an adult.

Not that that was the only reason why she hung out at Café du Monde every night when she wasn't working. It may have been her primary motivator, but their beignets were a very close second for getting her through the doors.

With one last large swallow she finished her drink and check the time on her phone. It was late by normal people's standards, but still early for everyone in her world. There was the possibility that Talon had gone straight to doing his patrols instead of stopping in to enjoy his favorite treats before starting his work for the night. She felt a little silly for assuming he would make the Café his first stop when she knew full well that there were enough creatures of the night that had found their way to New Orléans to keep all of the Dark-Hunters here busy, but still she had hope to catch at least a small glimpse of him. She was sure it would take just one look for her to know if any of her old feelings were still there.

Because if he felt even the slightest twinge of romantic emotions that would be a problem; a big, huge, worst thing that could happen type of problem. Squires were forbidden to have romantic relationships with Dark-Hunters. The stories she and her classmates had heard for why this was so varied, but when it came right down to it they were told that it was one of the rules Acheron had put into place so no one questioned it. Acheron was the leader of the Dark-Hunters and one of the oldest beings on the planet that Parker had ever met, so she was sure that he had made it a rule with good reason. Plus after she had had a short fling with a co-worker at the Pub she worked at in England go South, she learned firsthand why people always said that you shouldn't 'dip your pen in the company ink'. Work had become an extremely uncomfortable place to be until he quit because he was moving away for his post-secondary studies. With the Dark-Hunters it would be even worse than that because Squires usually lived with their Hunter, so that they could help protect them during the day to keep safe since sunlight would fry them as crispy as any vampire you've seen die in the movies. Nowadays there were extra security precautions Dark-Hunters could take to keep their underground or above ground lairs secure from daylight, but still a Squire could cause a lot of damage if given the opportunity. And if it was a spurned lover looking for revenge?

Parker shuddered at those thoughts and shook her head to clear them away. If she was assigned to be Talon's Squire (which was highly doubtful since he hadn't had one assigned to him in all of the centuries thus far) she would she would use what she had learned and would never let anyone know she had any romantic feelings for him. That is IF any still existed, which she was pretty sure...

 _Shut up brain!_ Parker silently yelled at herself. _Don't manufacture problems that don’t exist! How often have you been told that? Plus he might not be as good looking as you remember. Maybe he's a hideous ogre that will repulse you now._

Yeah... right, because a goddess would recruit hideous ogres to serve her. Parker knew that Artemis was a stickler for esthetics. She also had a theory (that she had never breathed a word of to any living creature) that Artemis even scouted out the Squires as well. Not that she considered herself to be all that beautiful, but everyone that she had met who worked for the goddess had looked like they could have made a good living gracing the pages of GQ or Vogue. Her mother had been so beautiful that she had questioned her why she hadn't been a supermodel. Even when she had been at her most ill while battling cancer, Parker had still thought her mother was the most beautiful woman she had ever seen in person (up until that point in her life because she had yet to meet the goddess they served or some of the other female Dark-Hunters, but even then she still believed her mother's beauty out ranked theirs). Was her opinion biased? Absolutely, but Parker really didn't care. Due to her own insecurities Parker secretly wondered if the reason she had yet to be assigned a job as a Squire was because Artemis had found her looks to be lacking and therefore deemed her ineligible to work for her. But now she was starting to think that maybe she was just being paranoid. There weren't really all that many female Dark-Hunters, so maybe that was why it took her so long to be placed.

Parker let out a long sigh as she started to pack up her belongings to leave. If she was assigned to a female hunter then her Talon issues were completely moot. But on the other hand she might be crushed if she was asked to work for anyone but her favorite Celtic Dark-Hunter.

_I am so screwed up! Why can't I...?_

Parker's self-deprecating thoughts got cut-off by the sounds of a woman that was apologizing to another patron for bumping into him. Normally Parker would have just ignored such a scene and continued on with her day, but some reason she felt compelled to watch the scene playout.

The curvy, tanned skinned female with her hair in two long black braids that fell over a short sleeved, peasant style pink blouse and a dark purple matching peasant skirt was juggling a wicker bag with a number of large paintings on canvass on one arm and a box of what Parker assumed were pastries from the Café as she apologized yet again. She separated herself from the male that was waving off all of her words of apologies, while also looking like he was ready to catch anything that might fall out of her bag. Parker couldn't help but to laugh softly to herself because she was sure that she had looked just like that on more occasions than she cared to admit to during her lifetime. Maybe it was sympathy or a sense of camaraderie that caused Parker to watch her. Or then again maybe it was something else completely.

The stranger was already out the door and presumed lost into the crowd that seemed to always appeared to be present on the streets by the time that Parker moved away from her table, so Parker tried to put her out of her thoughts completely. New Orleans had more than its fair share of eccentric characters, so the young Squire was sure that someone or something else would catch her attention sooner than later.

Sure enough, as she made her way to the door she caught a glimpse of something out of the corner of her eye. When she reached the spot where it was, she knelt down to pick it up. Although it wasn't as large as the ones she had seen in the artist's bag, Parker was certain that it belonged to the clumsy stranger she had just been admiring... and who now nowhere to be seen.

As quickly as she could, Parker worked her way through the crowd that was building inside Café du Monde and rushed out to the street. At first she saw no sign of the raven haired woman, so she nearly started to panic. She looked at the painting in her hand and was immediately stunned by the beauty of the painting of a small cabin in what she assumed was the Bayou. For a brief moment Parker started to let herself get lost in the picture, but then she quickly reminded herself that she didn't have time for that right now. If she wasn't able to find its rightful owner she'd be happy to indulge herself in some art appreciation, but first she had to at least try to find the clumsy artist.

With that sole goal in mind, Parker flipped the painting over in the hopes that there would be a name of a gallery or a business card of some sort for the artist. Finding nothing like that, she cursed softly to herself and tried to think of another course of action. Instinctively she scanned the crowd to try to spot her target, but with night fully upon them, getting a visual of anything more than ten feet away was difficult. Plus with the thick crowd and her lack of being a giant or an Amazon, seeing over everyone's heads was nearly impossible.

 _Well I tired._ She thought to herself dejectedly.

Parker then started making her way back to Sanctuary. She was hoping that someone there might recognize the artist's work and be able to tell her to whom it might belong. She knew that was a bit of a long shot, but it was worth a try anyways in her books. If that didn't work then at least she would have her laptop handy so that she could look up the names, addresses and phone numbers of art galleries to question in the morning.

Since her search had been stalled for the time being, Parker stopped on the sidewalk to admire the piece of artwork once again. Now she could most definitely tell that it was of a scene in the Bayou during a sunny day. She felt like she might know the area, but she honestly couldn't recall a time that she had ever even been to the Bayou. She had heard many stories about it, but visiting there was something she was sure that she could never be able to forget if it ever happened.

As she started to let herself get lost in the beauty of the lines painted on the canvass, Parker heard a rather loud, "Oh shoot! I'm so sorry! I didn't see you there!"

A large smile spread across Parker's face because she was sure that that was the exact same voice that had captured her attention in the Café.

Trying not to look too eager or pushy, Parker weaved her way through the crowd to try to find the owner of that voice. With a sigh of relief she found the petite, raven haired woman with another dark haired woman who was helping her repack her wicker bag with a number of canvass paintings. The second woman picked up the box from the Café du Monde and handed it the artist with a comment that was too quiet for Parker to overhear. The two women shared a laugh and then parted ways, so Parker redoubled her efforts to catch up with the woman who was now rushing down the street away from her.

Once she was out of the densest part of the crowd, Parker shouted out, “Miss! Miss! You dropped this!”

At first it appeared that the other woman was going to ignore Parker, but when she heard that she had dropped something she did actually slow down to a stop. She looked down at her hands with a look of frustrated disbelief as she mumbled to herself, “Oh darn it… what could…? I’m sure I got…”

Parker finally made it to her side and started to pass her the medium sized canvass saying, “It must have fallen out of your bag when you bumped into that guy at Café du Monde.”

The artist turned and looked even more distressed as she said, “You tracked me down from Café du Monde? Oh my goodness, I’m so sorry!”

Parker shrugged it off replying, “I didn’t have anywhere pressing to be. Here let me just… Oh… umm…” She tried to place the artwork into the other woman’s over-sized wicker bag, but she quickly noticed that it was so overfilled that it was little wonder that more of the canvasses hadn’t fallen out by now. For a brief moment she thought about passing it into the other woman’s free hand before she realized that neither hand was empty. “Umm… did you…? I mean, I could… or…”

Shifting the bag on her shoulder the artist said more to herself than to Parker, “He told me not to try to carry them all at once. Oh, he’s just going to love gloating about this.”

When it appeared that Parker had lost the other woman to her quiet, not so internal rant, she cautiously interrupted saying, “Umm… Miss…?”

“Sunshine.”

Parker just stared at her, unsure how to reply to that which caused the other woman to chuckle. “My name is Sunshine.”

“Oh,” Parker replied with a nervous laugh. “I’m Parker.”

“Pleasure to meet you too. So umm… about this… uhh…”

Sunshine gave her a nervous smile then said, “You were saying that you don’t have be anywhere super important right now? So…? Would you maybe mind helping carry these home safely? I swear it isn’t all that far away and I could pay you for the trouble. But to do that you’d have to come to my house because I don’t have any money on me anymore, I spent it all on the beignets.”

Parker smiled and gently pulled the paint Sunshine was holding out of her hand as she responded, “Why don’t I take this to make it easier on you?”

“Thanks, that’d be great.”

They both stood in their places awkwardly for a couple of minutes until Parker said, “Uhh Sunshine? You’ll have to lead the way.”

Sunshine startled in her place at the sound of the Squire’s voice. She then laughed nervously and said, “Of course I do. Sorry.” She turned and then started to walk away and then stopped abruptly and turned towards Parker to nervously ask, “You’re not…? You aren’t a serial killer or anything are you?”

Laughing softly Parker replied, “No, not a killer of any kind. I don’t even squish spiders. But I get that it’s weird to have a stranger follow you home, so why don’t I just help you rearrange everything in your bag so that we can fit all these in it and then we can both be on our separate ways?”

Sunshine blushed then sheepishly replied, “They won’t all fit. I was carrying a few of them and ran out of hands after I picked up the treats.” Again they both stared at each other in silence until Sunshine shook her head and declared, “This is stupid. I need help, you’re offering it… Let’s just go before I waste anymore of your time.”

Parker smiled softly and once again gently instructed, “Lead the way.”

They continued down the road in a comfortable silence. Parker took that as an opportunity to scrutinize the second painting she was holding. It was of a church that she was sure was located somewhere near the French Quarter, but she couldn’t recall its name or exact location. This one looked like it was either at dawn or dusk because the sun was only partially visible and its rays that could be seen cast a myriad of shadows over the church and its surrounding area. The colors and their virtual movement made the picture look almost as if it were a photograph instead of a painting done by a human’s hand.

“Did you paint these?” Parker asked before she could stop herself.

Sunshine smiled and looked at her only briefly so that she wouldn’t lose her footing.

“Just finished them yesterday. Now I have to look at the set together and make sure they actually work as a cohesive whole before I have my gallery show in two weeks.”

Parker didn’t try to hide the awe in her town as she replied, “They are absolutely beautiful. Is the show going to be here in town?”

Sunshine blushed again at the compliment. “No, I wish it was, but it’s for a gallery up in Seattle.”

“Wow. Well I’m no art critic, but these are, in my humblest of opinions, breath-takingly beautiful. If I were still away at school these would definitely have caused me to feel homesick.”

“Oh! You’re a native of New Orléans?”

“I wish I could say born and raised. Sadly I was born in Alaska and my parents moved here when I was a year old. Then I went to England for Boarding School when I was thirteen. But since all of my childhood memories happened here, I consider it my home.”

“As well you should! What part of England was your school located?”

“Oh… it was near the Scottish border. It’s a town no one has ever heard of… but I was only there a few months of the year, the rest of the time I stayed close to London. Well that is when we weren’t travelling to Italy, Greece or the odd trip to Egypt that is…”

That last comment caused Sunshine to halt in her place. She gave Parker an assessing look then said, “Those are some pretty specific countries to visit.”

Parker tried to shrug it off and sound nonchalant as she replied, “Oh well it was just for field trips. Y’know… umm to help us get a… uhh… a visual of the history that we were learning.”

Sunshine’s eyes grew comically wide at that explanation. “Field trips for school? That must have been some fancy Boarding School.”

“Oh well…”

“Suddenly Sunshine stopped again. She had a chagrinned look on her face as she interrupted Parker saying, “Oh gods that was rude! I didn’t mean to sound like I was judging you or anything. So you went to a fancy school? Who am I to make you feel bad about that? Seriously, just forget I said anything… please?”

Parker laughed good-naturedly. “It’s alright. I too suffer from self-inflicted foot in mouth disease far too often than I will admit to you. We’re good Sunshine, I swear my private schooling hasn’t turned me into a snob or anything like that.”

Sunshine groaned replying, “Thank the gods you have a sense of humor… and that we’ve made it here before I could really say something stupid.”

Parker just chuckled and shook her head without replying out loud. She wasn’t sure if it was because Sunshine reminded her of herself at times or what it was about the other woman, but Parker felt completely at ease with her. During her lifetime she had only had less than a handful of friends with whom she had felt this same sense of camaraderie. Unfortunately Dev and Aimée were the only ones that were still living, so Parker always felt a weird sense of fear and guilt when she clicked to easily with someone. She knew it wasn’t true, nor was it completely rational, but it was almost as if she was cursed. People she got close to seemed to always get hurt. Granted most of her close friends worked and lived on the fringes of ‘normal’ society who knew about the supernatural entities that lived to harm humans, so their potential for being harmed was higher, but still there were times Parker almost felt like she was at fault.

She said ALMOST… and that she knew it wasn’t rational.

Once again the two women fell into a comfortable silence as Parker followed Sunshine down the walkway to her home. She was so focused on her own thoughts and on not stepping on Sunshine’s heels that she didn’t really pay attention to the house or what it looked like at all. Although it had been Sunshine who had asked (somewhat jokingly) if Parker was a serial killer, she herself could have easily been leading the young Squire to slaughter. Luckily for Park that wasn’t remotely close to any of the thoughts that were running through the artist’s preoccupied mind.

When they got to the top of the stairs, they both stood and stared at the front door. After waiting for a couple of breaths, Parker’s eyes moved from the house to look at the woman standing beside her. Sunshine shuffled from foot to foot but made no movements to open the door.

Parker had just opened her mouth to speak when Sunshine quietly said, “I just realized I forgot my keys. Could you maybe knock on the door?”

With a soft chuckle, Parker shifted the paintings in her hands so that they were under her left arm. No sooner had she finished knocking on the door than it was opening. She stepped back behind Sunshine trying to hold in laughter because she could see that whomever was opening the door had a set of keys dangling from the fingers of his left hand.

“You don’t have to say anything, I know I’m late,” Sunshine stated with a mildly angry bite. “But I did remember to get you these like I promised I would.”

He chuckled as he took the box from here and then he gently chastised her saying, “I tried calling your cell to tell you about your keys, but…”

“No, I have it right… right…” Sunshine put down her bag and frantically started patting her hips and the pockets on her skirt. “No, I swear I grabbed my phone before I left.”

“Grabbed it? Maybe, but I found it hanging from its power chord off the edge of the side table here by the door.”

“Oh dear… I must have… I just didn’t want to waste any of the daylight that was left.”

“I know, butt Babe you have to slow down sometimes.”

 _Oh shit! That voice!_ Parker thought to herself as she stared at the wall of a man that occupied the space of the open doorway. She couldn’t take her eyes off his short blond curly hair or the two familiar braids that fell from one temple. She remained cemented in her place until his amber eyes met her pale blue gaze.

“Oh right, these are…” She hastily shoved the two canvass paintings at Sunshine. “They’re yours… glad you’re all… umm… I… err…. I should… since it’s getting late… uhh… g’night.”

Parker then turned and nearly fell down the stairs as she rushed down them. When she had first met Sunshine she had tried to play it cool, but all of that was forgotten the moment she laid eyes on Sunshine’s husband. All bets were off and she didn’t worry about looking like the klutz she really was. She was also so focused on getting home that she didn’t pay any attention to the two people she had left behind.

“Uhh… Sunshine?” Talon asked as he watched the woman with ebony hair with bright indigo blue highlights stumble over her feet as she made her way down their pathway to the sidewalk. When he saw her punch at her messenger bag at her hip as if it were to blame for her losing her footing, he actually had to bite his lip to keep from laughing out loud.

Sunshine had started to unload her paintings, but stopped and looked towards Parker’s retreating form at the sound of her husband’s voice. She watched Parker chastising herself for tripping and actually did chuckle softly. She then stepped into Talon’s side and wrapped her arms around his waist to hug herself against his side asking, “What is it Baby?”

“Who was that girl that was with you?”

“Oh… her?” She replied with a flippant wave of her hand. “I dropped one of my canvasses at the Café du Monde when I was picking up YOUR beignets and then she offered to help me carry everything home since my hands were full.”

Knowing what he did about the evil things that went bump in the night, Talon just stared at his wife in disbelief. He loved that she was a free spirit, but she usually wasn’t this nonchalant about having strangers over to their house. When she didn’t to notice his eyes boring a veritable hole in the side of her head, he lout an incredulous sounding, “Sunshine.”

She paused in her place where she was kneeling on the floor to look up at where her husband was standing with his arms crossed over his chest. Without consciously meaning to, she stared up at him with large doe eyes. “What? Her aura isn’t perfect but she didn’t insist on helping me, she actually tried to give me an out which lightened her aura a lot. So she’s known darkness, it isn’t like she’s been the cause of it.”

Talon shook his head then fell to his knees beside his wife and softly said her name before he kissed her gently on the lips.

Parker was still reeling as she continued down the sidewalk en route back to Sanctuary. She was fighting with herself trying to decide if the man she had just been gawking at was in fact the Dark Hunter she had had a crush on before she even understood what those feelings were. Sure he had the same wavy blond locks that she yearned to run her fingers through and the braids she had loved to tug on as a child, but his amber eyes. Yes, they held the intensity that she remembered, but still something was off about them.

 _Well not off per se…_ she thought to herself. _They’re just… different._

Parker continued to mentally take stock of everything she had witnessed tonight to try to put it into some sort of order. Maybe then she could reconcile the differences between the man she had just met and the fierce warrior she had known during her youth.

She smiled to herself when she realized that she was just a few blocks away from the safety of Sanctuary. Maybe if she got to work helping to clean up for the night, she could clear her mind enough to rethink everything that she saw and heard tonight. A clear head meant that she would have a clean slate which would be the perfect place to start on tackling a new problem.

By this time Parker was nearly skipping with giddiness because she finally realized that tonight hadn’t been a total bust. Sunshine had in fact led her straight to the man she had been wanting to see the most since she was told she would be heading home. And yes, she did see the humor in someone named ‘Sunshine’ leading her to a creature… no a man that was forbidden to tread in Apollo’s realm without enduring the worst form of torture that she could imagine; burning alive. That thought actually caused Parker to shiver as she walked on this seasonably warm night. She even pulled the lapels of her biker style leather jacket together to help to fight the non-existent cold.

 _His eyes… eyes…_ She repeated to herself as she walked. _Eyes are the windows to our…_

Parker’s profound thought was interrupted by someone gripping her shoulder tightly and wrenching it backwards. Since her thoughts had been completely preoccupied, her lifetime of training kicked in with full force. She hadn’t lied to Sunshine when she had confessed that she hadn’t even killed a spider but that didn’t mean that Parker hadn’t been trained to use a variety of weapons with deadly force. She had just always hoped that she would never have to put that knowledge to use.

Tonight that was all forgotten as she pivoted on her left foot and used her attacker’s grip on her left forearm as leverage to thrust her thin, stiletto blade towards his chest. He noticed the blade and stared at her in stunned disbelief which caused her to pause just before her forward momentum could cause the spike to pierce the leather of his jacket, let alone his skin.

Talon couldn’t help the way his eyes bulged wide at seeing the tip of a very sharp, very concealed blade nearly cutting through one of his favorite leather jackets. Parker’s eyes remained focused on the same spot while she panted in a few breaths to calm her racing heart until she felt his fingers convulse tightly around her left wrist. As her eyes shifted to her wrist, his did as well and she nearly started to panic when she noticed that her tattoo was now completely visible.

Although it didn’t seem possible, Talon’s eyes actually grew wider as he pulled her jacket sleeve even further back to get a better look at Parker’s ink. “What is that?”

Parker shrugged and struggled briefly to extract her arm from Talon’s grip. She quickly noticed that his grip was getting tighter and tighter with each of her movements so she stopped struggling. She was positive that she was going to have bruises dark enough that she would have to wear long sleeves to keep from being embarrassed as it was and she didn’t want to make matters worse.

Feeling more like the little girl who left New Orléans instead of the confident, fully trained Squire that she was, Parker nearly whispered, “A tattoo?”

Talon all but rolled his eyes to demonstrate how unimpressed he was with that answer. Parker hated that she shuddered under the weight of what she affectionately used to call his ‘dad-stare’. Then she almost laughed at the thought of any poor child being subjected to the full weight of that stare and incurring the wrath of Talon as their father, but she kept it contained. This was so not the time or place for that kind of thinking, especially since Dark Hunters were not able to father children.

He narrowed his eyes at her before he replied, “Yes, I have eyes. I can see that it’s a tattoo, but why do YOU have IT marked HERE permanently on your body?”

“Well…” Parker started slowly, not really sure what to say that wouldn’t anger him even further. “I chose my wrist because I can cover it up easily, even when I dress up in formal wear, and there’s still a lot of people who don’t…”

“No,” Talon interrupted, unable to hide his incensed irritation. “Why do have THIS tattoo? And by that I mean the design… this image.”

“Oh well… I…”

“Everything alright over there?” A male’s voice calling out from across the street interrupted their increasingly heated discussion.

Parker felt her whole body go limp with relief at the sound of the familiar voice. To her further relief Talon’s grip actually loosened when he heard the bear call out to them. He was also the only one who actually replied by calling out, “Yeah Remi, we’re fine.”

Talon then turned to further interrogate the woman he was holding to find out why she had Artemis’ mark tattooed on her wrist. That is if she knew what she was wearing was Artemis’ mark. If she didn’t then he was about to give this little girl a very rude awakening.

“Alright back to ---” He cut himself off when he noticed that not only was he no longer holding onto her arm, but she was now more than halfway across the street. He quickly moved to follow her path to the bar across the street. He watched in silence as she stopped by Remi’s side and quickly said something to him that Talon couldn’t hear. Remi just nodded in reply before she pecked a kiss on his cheek and nearly ran inside the bar.

Feeling even more confused, Talon stopped at Remi’s side to ask, “So I take it that you know her, bear?”

Remi nodded as he finished tossing large, black plastic garbage bags into the dumpster in the alley. “Yeah she’s been working for us ever since she moved back almost a week ago.”

“She’s a bear?”

A quiet chuckle escaped Remi’s lips when he answered, “No, she isn’t one of us. She’s human.”

“Oh-kay. If she’s human then why is she living at Peltier house? Does she have something or someone after her?”

Talon’s scowl deepened when Remi chuckled yet again. “Her? Nah she isn’t on anyone’s hit list… yet.”

“Yet?” Talon prompted when it sounded like Remi wasn’t going to elaborate.

“Yeah ‘yet’,” Remi repeated with an annoyed bite. “She’s a Squire, so once she starts working for a Dark Hunter I’m sure either he or she will want to off her at one point or something will try to use her to get back at her boss. But who know, right? I could be wrong… again.”

“She’s… she’s a Squire?”

“Yeah Gator Breath, that’s what I said. What with the third degree here Talon? If you wanted to know all of this then why didn’t you just ask her yourself instead of bugging me?”

This time it was Talon’s turn to give Remi an irritated look before he replied, “That’s what I was trying to do before you interrupted us.”

Remi just shrugged Talon’s anger off retorting, “Well I wasn’t sure if you two were having a friendly conversation or not. But after I realized it was you with her I knew I didn’t have to worry.”

“Thanks,” Talon said sounding less than impressed. “Wait! What do you mean after you realized it was me? You make it sound like I should know her or something.”

Remi gave Talon a look that said he didn’t know if he thought the former Dark Hunter was joking or if Talon was really just that stupid. “Well considering you spent so much time with her and her parents when she was I kid, I figured you two were catching up.”

For a couple of seconds Talon couldn’t speak. When he found his voice again it came out as disjointed fragments. “Wait I know… she’s…” He stopped himself there to regroup then asked, “Okay this is stupid and getting me nowhere. Let’s try it this way… What, pray tell, is that young Squire’s name?”

Remi laughed out loud then said, “You really don’t recognize her? Well I guess I’m not all that surprised, I didn’t either. That my friend is the young Parker Wallace who is now all grown up.”

“Parker? That’s Jordan and Jimmy’s kid?”

“Yep, in the flesh.”

“Why didn’t she tell me that?” Talon asked sounding somewhat hurt.

Remi slapped him on the shoulder a couple of time answering, “When you solve the mystery of the female mind, let me know because I’ll have a few questions for you then.”

Talon smirked and allowed himself a quick chuckle. “Very true. Thanks again for letting me ask you so many questions.”

“No problem. And here’s another bit of information free of charge; Parker isn’t working tonight, so she’ll be in the house if you want to interrogate her yourself.” Before Talon could ask the question he saw pop into the other man’s mind, Remi quickly added, “If you find Aimée, she’ll show you to Parker’s room.”

 


	4. Chapter 3

After leaving Remi to finish whatever chores he was doing in the alley, Talon stepped through the back door of Sanctuary into the kitchen. His timing was nearly perfect because Aimée was just stepping into the kitchen from the opposite direction of the dining room. When they saw each other they both froze in their spots and stared at each other for a couple of breaths.

Aimée recovered first. She tried to give Talon an easy smile, but she couldn't help but wonder what could have brought him to their door. "Hey Talon. Are you and the family here for a meal? Or are you hiding out from Sunshine's cooking again?"

Talon shook his head with a laugh replying, "No, nothing like that this time. I hear you're the bear to talk to about getting a sit down with the newest member of your motley crew."

"Parker? You mean she hasn't... I mean I thought..." Aimée shook her head then answered, "Of course. I think she just got home, follow me."

Neither of them spoke while Talon followed her through the foyer and up the stairs of Peltier House on their way to Parker's room. Once they got to the closed door, Aimée placed a soft hand on Talon's forearm to get his attention as she nearly whispered, "Being back... it's kind of been emotional for her. I'm sure she's been meaning to call you because I know she'd love to see you, but it's been..."

"Hard. I get it Aimée," Talon interrupted by putting his hand over top of hers and gave it a gentle squeeze.

"Plus this is her first time back since... well you know. And her dad had it in his will that he didn't want her to come back right away unless it was for a position as a Squire."

Talon stared at her in wide-eyed disbelief for so long that Aimée actually started to squirm in her spot. He then took a step away from Parker's door and lowered his voice to say, "Jimmy really did have that written into his will? I thought that he was just joking about that."

Aimée shook her head with a sad smile. "No, he really did. Well he had them put in that if he passed from any unnatural, or more specifically something violent and Dark Hunter related, he didn't want her to put herself in harm's way unless it was needed for work. After she heard the details about what happened here she decided that she would honor his wishes... but she wasn't happy about it."

Talon gave Aimée a sympathetic smile. He well remembered the night he hadn't been able to make it to Sanctuary to help defend it from a wolf pack that had teamed up with demons to try to destroy the Peltier family. Everyone from Fang's pack had come to fight as well as Acheron, his demon companion and her friends along with some other Dark Hunters that had been available to fight as well.

"I can't imagine that she would be. Thanks for the head's up Aimée."

She inclined her head to him then slowly moved away from his side saying, "Anytime. Just call me if either of you need anything."

He gave her a smile and a resolute nod before turning back towards Parker's closed bedroom door. Suddenly everything Aimée had told him hit him all at once. Parker wasn't going to be the scared little girl who had only cried once when the two of them were completely alone after she had been told that she had been enrolled in Boarding School what was located nearly halfway around the world. Of course she had surprised him back then because her tears weren't the result of her being scared of being sent to an unknown place far away from her family and friends. No, she was afraid that she had done something wrong while helping to care for her dying mother and that she was being send away as a form of punishment because her father was disappointed in her. Talon had tried his best to convince her of the contrary, but he was sure that when they parted ways that night that he hadn't succeeded.

Of course what Talon didn't know was that before he passed away Jimmy (Parker's father) had had a sit down with her to explain everything. He had flown to England for her graduation and sat down with her at a pub to buy her her first (legal) pint of beer. He then told her everything that he had been too grief stricken to articulate half a decade before. Parker had known that her parents had been in love, but she had no idea that they were soulmates in the purest sense of the word. Their souls had been reincarnated and reconnected more than once over a couple of centuries, but this was the first time that they had been able to actually start a family and have a child that was an expression of their love. Park had always been mature for her age and it hadn't taken her long to understand that her being sent to a school in a foreign country hadn't meant that she was being sent away. By her high school graduation she understood that it was her dad's way of sending her to safety. But she was relieved that he had actually taken the time to sit down and explain it all to her and confirm her suspicions all the same.

What she hadn't told anyone was that the night she had spent at the Pub with her dad was one of the only reasons that she had stayed in England after he was slaughtered. When she heard the news her first instinct had been to head back to New Orléans to take out anyone that had been connected to the wolf pack that had attacked Sanctuary when it had been at its most vulnerable, but then she looked at the letter that her mother had written just prior to her death that her father had delivered during his departure from England after her graduation. Both of them called her their once in a lifetime miracle and said that this time they knew they would all re-unite in the Elysian Fields where their souls would finally be at rest together. Because of those words and sentiments she had respected her dad's wishes and stayed in England until she was called back for this job.

Plus it gave her time to study and train. She may not have gotten her first kill under her belt yet, but she did know how to use everything from a ballpoint pen to the heel of her shoe to take down a Daimon if she needed to do it.

Of course Talon didn't know any of that because after the first and only time he had witnessed the strong-willed Tomboy break down into gut wrenching sobs that he couldn't calm down, he completely backed off. They had always been buddies and he didn't know how to be a pillar of emotional support for her. She had written him a few times to tell him what it was like for her at Boarding School, but he had never written her back. All of her letters were basically a description of where she was and a justification for why it was a good thing for her to be there, so he figured that they were her way of getting feelings out she couldn't say to anyone else and he sort of just ignored and then forgot about them.

_Was that why she tripped over herself to get away from me?_ Talon shook his head and squared his shoulders to try to remind himself not to think like that. He was a fierce Celtic warrior who had sold his soul to a Greek goddess for a moment of vengeance as well as an immortal lifetime fighting soul sucking vampires. No, he was a warrior, he could face an emotional young, female adult without her defeating him in any way.

At least that's what he told himself when he forced himself to finally knock on her door.

He heard a muffled 'Just a sec!' before the door slowly started to open. "Sorry Aims, I know I told Remi..."

Parker completely froze with her mouth gaping open once she noticed that it wasn't Aimée who had being knocking at her door.

Talon had really wanted to play it cool but once Parker was revealed, he too couldn't help but stare at her with his mouth hanging open.

"Parker...? Are you...? Do you need me to get Carson?" Talon finally asked once he found his voice once again.

Parker laughed softly as she pulled at what looked like three layers of skin that she was pulling off her face. Without saying anything in response, she turned her back on Talon and moved towards a vanity that had been set up on the opposite side of the room. Talon wasn't sure what he was supposed to do so he stepped inside the room and close the door more out of instinct and habit than anything else.

He watched Parker drop something into her trash can before she approached the antique styled ash basin sitting on her vanity. Parker then pulled out a wash cloth and wrung the excess water out of it without looking like she was going to acknowledge that he had spoken.

"Sorry that was just my weekly peel," she finally explained as she scrubbed at her hairline and other random parts of her face. Talon remained silent because he wasn't sure what was happening to her or how he could possibly help her right then.

After she had finished, Parker returned the face cloth to the wash basin. She then turned back towards her bedroom door. Talon still had a strange look on his face, so she quickly explained, "Oh... uhhh... that was a face mask... it helps to... well it's for those of us who weren't born looking like a Grecian... err uhh... I meant Celtic god. Sorry if I freaked you out."

The fact that she still sounded like the Parker he know of old seemed to throw Talon off his unofficially planned game. Parker gave him another worried once over before she started to fold random articles of clothing that were in a wicker basket on her bed.

"I know you’re not... I mean you're good... umm... I mean you aren't like Shrek or anything..." Parker rambled as she kept her eyes on her hands that were haphazardly folding random articles of clothing. "I mean it's just that Artemis is a goddess, so if you... err... anyways, I... umm... sorry if that comment... you know... uhh... but I didn't mean to... err..."

Talon quickly placed both of his hands over Parker's to force her to stop her movements. "Parker? Could you maybe slow down so that we can sit down and talk?"

Parker's hands instantly stopped their motion the second that Talon's flesh touched hers. Without taking her eyes off his hands touching hers, Parker let the clothes she was holding fall at their feet. Her eyes then slowly traveled up his body until she was looking at his chest as she slowly started to nod.

Still without saying a word, she started to sit down on her bed which caused her to inadvertently slip her hands out of his hold. Once Parker was seated on her bed, she looked up at Talon with the same wide-eyed questioning look she had given him as a child and he felt a familiar clenching in his abdominal region. The first time he had felt that around his son he had known it was a familiar twinge, but he could never really place it. Now he remembered it. More importantly he remembered that he had blocked it from his memory because it was close to the same look his sister had used to give him as a spirit before she told him she was ready to take on the challenge of being reincarnated.

She continued to just stare at him like she was a lost puppy trying to get help home, so he blindly pulled at a chair behind himself to sit down.

As soon as he was seated Parker seemed to snap out of whatever trance-like state she had been in. She sat up straighter in her place on her bed as she hurriedly explained, "I swear I haven't turned into a stalker Tee! Sunshine really did drop that painting and it didn't have a business card on anything on it, so I didn't know how I was going to get it back to her and then I saw her again on the street, so I tried to return it to her then but she ran out of hands to carry all of her stuff so SHE ASKED ME to help her carry it home! I swear I tried to give her an out but she ran out of hands so she needed help. I had no idea she even knew you! I was just trying to be a Good Samaritan for a... uhh... an artist who needed an extra hand so I... I... y'know... I helped her."

Talon didn't feel his jaw drop as Parker spoke, but he suddenly realized that he was gaping at her after she had finished the longest run on sentence that he had ever heard a human utter.

Parker's cheeks started to turn a darker shade of red with every second that Talon remained silent. Parker had never really been able to deal with awkward silences well, so she opened her mouth again to spill more verbal diarrhea on him. Talon quickly threw up his hand to silence her and her eyes bulged when she saw a large scar on his palm.

Parker quickly snatched up his hand between both of her as she exclaimed, "HOLY SHIT! You've been mated too?! I didn't know Sunshine... she isn't...? Wait that doesn't..."

Talon gently tugged his hand out of Parker's now slack grip replying, "Sunshine isn't a were of any kind. That isn't a mating mark... per se..." He saw another myriad of questions pop up in her mind, so he grabbed at one of her hands with his left hand to silence her as he added, "If you give me a second to catch up, I promise I'll go over everything... okay Peapod?"

Parker's blush darkened at hearing the nickname only Talon had ever used for her. He had a look on his face as if he was waiting for her to reply, so Parker swallowed thickly then hoarsely whispered, "Okay Tee."

"Okay." He smiled softly and sat back in his chair. Once Parker somewhat mirrored his stance, he gave her a cheeky smile, bordering on a smirk, as he asked, "Did you really meet Sunshine at Café du Monde?"

Hearing his mocking tone cause Par's mind to clear and any sign of a blush faded from her skin. When she finally spoke her voice had a bit of a hard edge to it. "NO. Yes I first saw her there after she had stumbled into someone and dropped her painting of a rundown shack in the Bayou, but I didn't actually catch up to her until she bumped into some other unsuspecting stranger on the street and dropped yet another painting."

Talon had been trying to hold in a chuckle until he heard Parker's unkind description of his old home that Sunshine had insisted on including in her latest exhibition. "Hey, whoa! Wait a minute there Sweet Pea."

"Oh no..." Parker mocked because she was becoming genuinely annoyed after hearing the name he had only used on a handful of occasions when he was trying really hard to tease her. "Was that shanty...? I mean mom and dad never took me there, but was that little hole she painted...? It's where you live? Well you shouldn't feel too embarrassed, she made it look cute."

"She did not make it look cute!" Talon nearly shouted as he stood up so fast that he caused the chair he had been sitting on to topple over.

Parker shrank back in her seat and actually cowered in her place at hearing Talon raise his voice. Her bottom lip started to quiver and her voice was thick with tears when she whispered, "I was just trying to tease you. I didn't mean it."

She refused to look up at him while she spoke which made Talon's heart sink. He then walked up to her to wrap her in a hug and said against her head, "I know you were. I’m sorry I raised my voice. Can we start over Peapod?"

He felt her nod against his stomach. He then took a step back and picked up his chair to sit on it once again. They both stared at each other in silence and Talon took a moment to actually look at her and quickly catalogue the changes he could see. Gone was her strawberry blond hair. Instead she now looked like she would fit in well with Acheron and Simi because of her dyed black hair with indigo blue streaks. She still had the most expressive, bright blue eyes he had ever seen, but other than just looking older with drastically different colored hair, she really hadn't changed that much.

Parker started to squirm under Talon's assessing gaze but she forced herself to remain silent. She had been the first to speak when he came into her room and that hadn't gone well so she was going to wait for him to take the lead this time.

Talon felt incredibly awkward sitting in his chair practically staring at Parker, but he forced himself to push those feelings aside to get them both back on track.

He tried to give her a warm smile as he said, "Welcome home Parker."

She smiled softly and had tears in her eyes when she replied, "Thanks, it's good to be back."

"So I assume that you being here means that you've been assigned to a Dark Hunter. Do you know who it is yet?"

She shook her head replying in a much calmer sounding voice, "No, I find out tomorrow. No one seems to know of anyone that was looking for a Squire here in town, so we're thinking that they might be importing someone. But either way I wasn't given a name. I was just told to be at Sanctuary at midnight tomorrow to meet my new boss."

"Tomorrow? But Aimée made it sound..."

"I came back a week early," Parker interrupted with an embarrassed blush coloring her cheeks. "Aimée said that I could stay here because I wanted to reacquaint myself with the city before going to work."

"You've been home for a week?"

Both of them were surprised by the hurt they heard in Talon's tone. Parker cast her eyes down to her hands that were sitting in her lap. She wasn't sure how to respond to his tone of voice, so she decided to try to tell him the plain truth to see where that got her with him.

"I thought about calling you," she stated quietly to her lap. She swallowed thickly then looked up at him and added, "But then I remembered that I never actually had your number, only Dad did. I guess I could have... I mean I don't know if Aimée or Dev... but I should have tried to..."

Talon scooted his chair forward and placed a hand over top of both of hers saying, "It's alright Parker. I know this is a pretty big city, but I guess I'm just surprised that I hadn't bumped into you before seeing you on my front doorstep is all."

"You and me both Buddy," Parker retorted with a cheeky smile and a quiet laugh. "But I guess you're too cool to hang out at places like Café du Monde anymore."

Talon barked out a laugh as he replied, "Man do I wish that was the reason. Don't let Sunshine fool you by her stopping in there tonight. She has basically forbidden me to go there and 'pollute my body with that junk'. I swear that last part is a direct quote from her."

Parker smirked at his attempt at a light-hearted joke, but she couldn't help but wonder about the background behind his relationship with Sunshine. How had they met? Were they married or just living together? Had she really forbidden him from indulging in his favorite sugary confection? Had he actually listened to her?

Determined to get some answers, Parker tentatively reached out to take his left and then right hands in each of hers. "So does the mark on your palm have anything to do with the ring on your left hand?"

Talon let her flip his right hand over to scrutinize and trace his scar with her finger once again. "Actually it does. But it really isn't a mating mark. Sunshine helped to restore my soul... and I don't mean that in an airy fairy way. I mean she literally got me my soul back."

Hearing that declaration caused Parker's head to snap up so that she could stare at him. "You mean you're not... you've..." Her grip tightened on his hand as she quietly exclaimed, "Holy shit, that... that's why they're... Wow! I just... I mean I never would have thought that..."

Talon shook his hand from side to side as he playfully chastised Parker saying, "Hey Peapod, you're going to have to slow that big brain of yours down a bit so that I can catch up."

Parker blushed and smiled demurely as she whispered, "Sorry Tee."

For a brief moment he thought she wasn't going to expand on that thought, but then Parker carefully placed his hands back on his thighs. Talon straightened up in his seat at the same time as Parker and they reestablished direct eye contact. Parker took in a long, slow, deep breath. As she let it out through her nose, she squared her shoulders looking like she was mentally preparing herself for what she was going to say next.

"Sorry, I've been working on not doing that because I’m sure it's just going to piss off whoever is stuck with me as their Squire, but once I got back here... I don't... I just... Fuck! I just keep doing it!"

"It's alright Parker. Don’t beat yourself up about it. I'm more than happy to wait while you collect your thoughts. Take your time."

"Thanks Talon. What I was trying to say was that I noticed something different about your eyes. I couldn't really put my finger on it... at least not until now. Your eyes are amber now and your pupils aren't... well they look more... uhh..."

"Human?" He supplied with a sympathetic smile.

"Yeah, that. And your smile... it looks wider too now that you don't have to hide your fangs."

Somehow his already broad smile widened considerably. For a moment Parker thought he was going to make a comment about that, but Talon remained silent. Since he seemed to be leaving the ball in her court, Parker asked, "So the mark on your palm? If it isn't a mating mark given to you by the Fates... umm... did Sunshine like brand you or something so everyone will know that you’re hers or something?"

Again Talon barked out a laugh because this was Parker's quirky sense of humor that he was used to hearing. "No Parker it's nothing like that. During the whole process of me getting my soul back, it was actually Sunshine's hand that got burned so badly that she would have been scarred for life and lost pretty much all of the use in her hand." Parker opened her mouth to jump in with some of the questions that were on her mind, so Talon held his hand up to silence her. "Remember what my powers are Peapod?"

Parker scowled at what she thought was him attempting to change the subject, but she remained silent while she gave his question some careful thought. "There's the thing with the weather... but that doesn't..." When her next thought formed she looked up at Talon in wide-eyed amazement. "You can heal people. But... but... you never... I mean... Shit. When you healed my broken arm, you didn't get a broken arm, did you? Please tell me you didn't!"

He couldn’t help but to be touched by her kind heart. Parker had never wanted to be the cause of anyone’s pain and always went out of her way to ease others’ pain whenever she could. The fact that his being hurt because of her was her primary concern made him smile. It really was feeling like she was just an older version of the little girl he had known. Not that he was naïve enough to believe that was actually true, but it was refreshing to him to see that life hadn’t extinguished all of the pure goodness in her heart.

“Even if I did, that’s nothing for you to worry about now. That’s in the past and we can’t change it. Now to answer your unasked question, yes I got this when I healed Sunshine.”

“Wow. That’s… that’s so… awesome. You must really love her.”

“I do,” he replied simply before he winked. With a twinkle of mischief in his eyes, Talon then teasingly added, “Plus it’s one heck of a way to guilt trip her any time I get myself into trouble with her.”

“Talon!” Parked sighed out as she gave his arm a playful swat.

“What? It is!”

“I’m sure. And for you she just has to buy you beignets?”

“I wish! Seriously Parker that was a rare buy for her tonight. Usually she just puts Declan between us and he melts the anger away.”

Parker scowled again as she filtered through the files in her memory for that name. Although Talon would always be her favorite, she had actually tried to study up on all of the Dark Hunters who call New Orleans home just in case she was placed with one of them. She pretty much considered herself an expert of sorts, but now she was realizing that there was a lot that she didn’t know about the current events in his and those of his fellow warriors. For one, she knew a number of them had had their souls restored and had sort of left Artemis’ service, but she hadn’t really paid attention to the actual number or retained all of their names. The majority had happened after she left Boarding school and since she did her post-secondary studies at a non-Squire based University, she hadn’t included the current domestic live of Dark Hunters as part of her curriculum. That was no something that she was regretting because she felt like she had lost her upper-hand. On top of all of that, she had resigned herself to the fact that she may never return to New Orleans so at some point she stopped making sure she kept up with the current events here because it was starting to feel to torturous and depressing.

“Declan?” She finally asked quietly.

Talon’s smile softened into one of sympathetic understanding before he replied in a hushed tone. “I keep forgetting how long you’ve been away Peapod.” He then reached into a pocket on the inside of his jacket to pull out his wallet. He quickly opened it up and retrieved a photo out of it. After looking it over with a loving gaze he passed it to Parker. She took it from him with a careful hand as he added, “He’s the little bundle of joy Sunshine gave birth to.”

“Wow,” Parker whispered, staring at the photo intently. After she passed Talon back hi photo, she relaxed further in her place and added, “Wow, so you’re a dad now, eh? I always thought that you’d make a great dad.”

Talon didn’t make any attempts to cover his shock when he replied, “Really? I didn’t know you ever gave me being a father any thought.”

Parker blushed and ducked her head to keep from letting him see the embarrassment in her eyes. “Well I didn’t… err I mean it’s not like… umm… you know I didn’t… umm…”

Talon clasped her knee to gently shake it. “Don’t be embarrassed Parker. I didn’t really mean anything by that comment.”

“I know you didn’t Tee. And I just meant that when we hung out, I always thought you’d be an awesome dad because you were so nice to me. Declan must be spoiled rotten.”

Talon chuckled and got a dreamy look on his face that Parker was sure was caused by him thinking about his son and wife. “He sure is… and not just by Sunshine and me, her parents were pretty excited to meet their grandson.”

“That is so cool. So if you’re one of the Hunters that have gotten their souls back and Samia is mated to Dev, who else from around here is out of the game?”

“Well none of us are fully out, we still help when we can.”

“Really? I mean if I got a burn like that from returning a soul to my life mate, I would not be cool with them putting their ass on the line now that they aren’t immortal.”

“Who says all of us aren’t immortal now?” Talon asked with a mischievous smile on his face.

Parker gave him a confused scowl while replying, “What? Are you saying that returning your soul to you didn’t make you mortal? I thought that’s how it was supposed to work.”

“It is, but for some of us, we’ve been gifted with immortality from very gracious gods.”

“What?! Who would…? How did…? When…? How…? What?!”

Talon chuckled again then answered, “That part is a bit of a long, complicated story that you and I can get into another time.”

Before he could completely change the subject Parker gave him a hard look as she asked in a dire tone, “You promise?”

“I promise.”

His reply came out so quickly that Parker felt compelled to add, “I mean it Talon, I will hound you until you tell me all about it. And if you won’t tell me, I have no qualms with going behind your back and asking Sunshine about it. I DO know where you live now.”

Talon just stared at Parker with his mouth hanging slightly open. She quirked an eyebrow up with a cocky smirk on her face in response to his stunned look. That helped Talon to shake off his momentary stupefaction.

“You really have grown up a lot Peapod. Now, I do promise I’ll tell you, I really do. Just please don’t get me into trouble with my wife, I can manage to do that on my own too easily and I really don’t need your help with that.”

Parker laughed at his reply. “Alright, I won’t get you into trouble with the Missus unless it’s absolutely necessary. Now you were going to say…?”

“Say…? Oh right, I was going to tell you about everyone you should know about that has sort of left the service. So there’s me…” He waved his scarred hand at her to re-iterate his point. “Then there’s Kyrian…”

“Kyrian of Thrace?” Parker interrupted du to her surprise. “Sorry. You were saying?”

Talon gave her a sympathetic smile. “The very same. He was then replaced by Valerius.”

Parker saw the light dull in his eyes as one side of his upper lip curled up into a small sneer so she quietly asked, “You don’t mean… not Valerius Magnus… the Hunter that’s related…?”

“Yes that Valerius. Kyrian almost went through the roof when he found out that he was being moved here.” Talon paused there and laughed to himself. That reaction seemed so out of place that Parker couldn’t help but to scowl at him. When his eyes met her Parker could see that they were now twinkling with mischief. “But that was nothing compared to when he found out that his sister in law was sleeping with the enemy.”

Parker’s eyes goggled wide but she couldn’t articulate a verbal reply. Talon stood to shake he shoulders and chuckled saying, “Breathe Parker, just breathe.”

“So if she’s sleeping with the enemy, would I be correct to assume that Valerius has been re-ensouled too?”

“‘Re-ensouled’?” Talon repeated with a humorous tone.

Parker shrugged replying, “Hey, it sounded right in my head. Now quit avoiding the question. Is Valerius or is he not still a Dark Hunter?”

“Not,” Talon answered. “But Kyrian got to help with returning his soul, so that helped to ease his pain enough that now he lets his little one visit his niece and nephew.”

“Whoa… so Valerius is a dad too? Wow… oh gods that’s…” Parker snickered softly. “Their family dinners must be pretty interesting.”

“You can say that again. But I wouldn’t blame Kyrian and Val for that, their wives’ family is quite… interesting. But that’s a whole other story.”

Parker rolled her eyes then said in a pretend annoyed voice, “That will have to wait for another time. Seriously Talon I will hunt you down if you don’t make another date with me.” After those words were out of her mouth Parker threw her hand over the bottom half of her face as her cheeks turned a bright pink color. “I didn’t…. I mean, I know… oh gods! I’m such a spaz!”

“Parker it’s okay, I know what you meant. I do promise we’ll talk again, you have my word on it. In fact, hopefully it will be on a regular basis. Now back to the topic at hand. When it comes to the Devereaux sisters… Kyrian and Valerius’ spouses, you’ll probably be running into them at some point soon and will have the pleasure of finding out about them on our own. Actually, now that you’re older you should go check out ‘Pandora’s Box’. Val’s wife Tabitha owns it and that would give you some insight into who she is.”

“Oh… umm… alright…” Parker took a moment to compose herself and took in a long deep breath before looking Talon square in the eyes to say, “So Kyrian, Samia, Valerius and yourself. Anyone else I should know about?”

“Well there’s Acheron. Although he hasn’t really changed how he does things sine he met Tory and they had their little guy… Parker…? Are you…? Are you okay Peapod?”

“Holy… shit…” Parker finally gasped out. “Gods I missed a lot while having fun at university. Shit… Acheron is married too? Wow, now THAT kid is one lucky little booger. Alright… alright… I think I’ve recovered from that aneurysm. So you, Samia, Kyrian, Valerius AND Acheron. Anyone else?”

Talon took a moment and appeared to give her question some serious thought. When he spoke again he didn’t seem to be actually addressing Parker at all so she remained silent and let him sort out his thoughts.

“Well there’s Sin… but Jimmy and Jordan never spent any time in Vegas… or Seattle… oh and… nope you wouldn’t remember him even if you met him… oh… ugh… and… oh… shit…” He then turned his attention back to Parker to ask, “Where were you born again?”

“Alaska,” she replied almost hesitantly because she couldn’t fathom how her birth place would be connected to Dark Hunters who had regained their souls.

“Dammit, that’s right. Jimmy… I mean your dad always was a bit of a softy and he always tried to find the best in people even if they didn’t deserve it.” Parker opened her mouth to ask what Talon meant, but he held up his hand to silence her. “You were probably too young to remember him, or so I hope, but do you remember ever meeting Zarek at all?”

The name didn’t immediately ring a bell so Parker initially started to answer to the negative. “No… oh… oh wait! He’s that scary mofo that has that… that claw things that he wears, right?”

Talon couldn’t help but to laugh at Parker’s innocent sounding description. “The next time he’s in town, please tell him that description just like that, please?”

“Talon!” Parker scolded with an exasperated sigh. “Quit poking fun at my expense. Yes, I remember Zarek. In fact I think he even stayed with us once because Dad didn’t want him staying in town by himself in some strange house. He was pretty gruff and he looked hella scary, but he was never actually mean to me.”

“That’s because you were the cutest little thing on the planet and I don’t think that Hades himself could have found it in him to be mean to you.”

“Thank you for the compliment Talon, but back to the story please.”

“Alright, alright. Well that, what did you call him? Right! That ‘scary mofo’ has gotten married and has become a father too.”

“Whoa… shit! No way! Well I guess there really is someone out there for everyone. So what kind of woman could finally tame him?”

“A goddess. No seriously Parker, she’s legitimately a goddess and they live on Mount Olympus. She’s related to the Fates or something. But there you have it. That should be it for the Hunters that you knew growing up. And before you ask, if I forgot anyone and you hear something you need confirmed, just call me and I’ll give you the low down the best that I can.”

Parker smiled answering, “Thanks Talon. I’ll be sure to hold you to that.”

As he handed her a small piece of paper he replied, “And just to prove I’m telling the truth, here’s my number.”

Parker took it from him and unfolded it to check that there really was a phone number written on it. “Thanks Tee… I’ll… I’ll text you later so that you have mine too.”

“Sounds like a plan. So, enough about all of us. What about you Parker Wallace? What have you been up to since I last shared beignets with you at Café du Monde?”

“Me? Not too much. I went to school, graduated, spent a year traveling around Scotland, went to University, worked in a Pub, and now I’m back here to FINALLY do the job I’ve been training to do basically my whole life.”

“Oh come on Parker that can’t really be it. No Beau pining away for you and crying into a pint of beer every night because you’ve left him?”

“Well I guess that is just the Cliff Notes, but those are the highlights. And no… no serious guy because… well you know how it is, you can’t tell them everything so it makes it hard to really connect because… well… you can’t be completely honest. And most of the male Squires… well they’re more like brothers and cousins, not boyfriend material. Plus I knew… well I hoped that I would get assigned to a Hunter and the likelihood of them being in England was slim to none because everyone there is so well established with their Squires and their families so…” She let out a heavy sigh. “So long story short, no guy.”

He took a hold of one of her hands then replied with a sympathetic voice, “I know, it can be rough. Lucky for me Sunshine sort of knew about the not so natural parts of the world at large, so it made it easier to tell her about me. Plus she was pretty much thrown into the thick of it when we first met.”

“That thing with Camulus a few years back?” Parker asked through a series of yawns.

Talon looked genuinely surprised as he answered, “Yeah. You know about that?”

“I got together with a couple of my classmates one night before I headed back here. They both had their Hunters designated to them at birth, so they stayed in the loop more than I did and they couldn’t stop talking about it. Acheron’s evil brother teams up with a Celtic god to get back at you and try to end the world? That stuff is crazier than anything anyone is writing for the big screen right now. Seriously some messed up shit… that you’ll have to tell me about… another time.”

Talon chuckled then said, “Yeah looks like I owe you a few long stories. But it’s getting late and you look like you’re getting tired.”

“And you should be getting home to your wife and little one.” Parker stood up and wrapped her arms around Talon to give him a tight, almost uncomfortable hug. “It was so good to see you again Tee. I’ve really missed you.”

Talon ran his hands up and down Parker’s back to try to soothe some of the emotions he heard creeping into her voice. “It’s good to see you too Parker. Hey after you get settled with your Hunter, you should come over to properly meet my family.”

Parker sniffled and swiped her hand under her nose as she pulled back out of their embrace. “Thanks Tee, I’d really like that.”

“Hey, Peapod? What’s wrong?” Talon asked as he cupped both of her cheeks in his hands and brushed away a couple of tears that had trickled down her cheeks. “Where did these waterworks come from?”

She sniffled again as she twisted out of his hold to walk over to her vanity. There she plucked a couple of tissues out of the box and blew her nose into them. She kept her back turned to him while she calmed her breathing and dried the tears that were trickling down her cheeks. Talon watched her in silence because he didn’t understand what he had said to upset her, so he wasn’t sure what he could say to fix it.

When she felt that she once again had her emotions under control, Parker turned back to face Talon. His heart sank when he saw fresh tears gathering in her eyes, but he kept his mouth shut just in case he was the reason for her distress.

Parker opened her mouth to speak, but closed it right away. Talon saw that her bottom lip was trembling, so he took a step forward to try to comfort her as he quietly said, “Parker… I’m…”

She silenced him and froze him with a wave of her hand. “It’s not you Talon. It’s just… I’m finally back… FINALLY… but… but what if…? What if they don’t like me?”

“Don’t like you?” He questioned, genuinely confused by her question.

“My Dark Hunter,” Parker replied sounding like that answer should be obvious. “What if they don’t like me and I get sent away again?”

“Oh Parker,” he replied with concern in his voice as he pulled her into another hug. “That’s not going to happen. There’s no way that anyone could hate having you as a Squire.”

Parker huffed out a laugh with her face pressed against his chest. She then squirmed in his arms so that she could rest her cheek against his chest. Once she was able to breathe more easily she nearly whispered, “A lot of people get super annoyed when I start yammering on in incomplete sentences. That could annoy someone enough that they won’t want me to work for them.”

“Oh Peapod, please don’t talk like that,” he whispered against her hair. He then squeezed her tightly in his arms then pushed her back so that he could look her in the eyes. “Hey just because you work for them doesn’t mean you’ll see them all that much. Most of your work will be running errands during the day or helping with damage control at night. If you’re lucky you’ll barely see them at all except for in passing.”

Parker gave him a watery smile and asked, “You really think so?”

“I really think so. Plus, I honestly don’t believe that they’ll hate you at all.”

Parker took in a long breath and exhaled it slowly with her eyes closed. When she opened her eyes again she actually did look calmer this time. “Thanks Talon. If you believe that then I can at least try to as well.”

“Well you should because it’s true. So? Would you maybe want me to come here tomorrow as emotional support?”

Without replying beyond a high pitched squeal, Parker launched herself into Talon’s arms again. She tightly wrapped her arms around and legs around his neck and waist as she replied, “You’d do that for me?”

Talon couldn’t help but to chuckle at her reaction. He shifted her weight slightly so that he held her more comfortably against one of his hips, “Of course I would. Should I take this answer as a yes then?”

“Yes! Yes times infinity!” Parker nearly shouted. She then buried her face into his shoulder as she hugged his neck so tightly that she nearly cut off his ability to breathe.

“Alright. So long as you don’t choke me to death, I’ll be here for you.”

Parker quickly released him from her hold. She landed on her feet with an embarrassed look on her face and apologized saying, “I’m sorry. I didn’t… it’s just I… we’ll then you said… uhh… I’m sorry Tee.”

“It’s alright Parker. No harm done. But you should rest up.” He scooped her into his arms for one final hug. “I’ll see you tomorrow Parker.”

“Okay. Until tomorrow. Sleep well Talon.”

“You too Peapod.”

 


	5. Chapter 4

“Parker? Cub?” Aimée called out softly as she knocked on the Squire’s bedroom door.

When she didn’t get a reply right away, she leaned in closer to the door. She normally made an effort not to use her powers around Parker (or any other humans for that matter), but right now she wasn’t concerned with being polite and she allowed herself to use them to hear what was happening inside Parker’s bedroom. Almost immediately she could hear Parker mumbling something she couldn’t quite make out because even with her supernatural gifts Parker was speaking too quietly for to Aimée to make it out.

“Cub?” Aimée tried again in a louder voice. “Parker? Is everything okay?”

Aimée winced when she heard something fairly large and heavy crash down on the bedroom’s floor. Now she could hear Parker cursing quietly and violently. It sounded like Parker tripped over something because she then started to insult her furniture and its maker. While she listened to Parker’s quiet tirade, Aimée couldn’t decide if she wanted to laugh at or apologize to Parker for startling her and causing her to stumble over what sounded like practically everything in her room.

“Cub? Sweetie are you…?”

Aimée cut herself off when she saw Parker’s door open a crack. She remained where she was, expecting that Parker would open it the rest of the way and invite her in. At the very least she anticipated meeting Parker at the door to have a face to face conversation, but instead she as met only with open air.

Very gingerly Aimée pushed op the door wide enough to see inside. When the full state of Parker’s room came into view, Aimée threw her hand over her mouth to stifle her gasp of surprise. The chair Parker used to apply her make up at her vanity was laying on its back with hits legs in the air and covered in discarded clothing, a couple of the drawers from her four drawer dresser were flipped upside down haphazardly on the floor with their contents draped over and around them like victims after a plane crash. Aimée’s eyes moved slowly around the room taking in the carnage and completely forgetting why she had originally come up to this bedroom.

Aimée shook her head at the state of disarray and without any conscious thought started to pick up random articles of clothing. She moved closer to Parker’s bed to start a pile of the freshly folded clothes. Once her hands were empty she turned to pick up more clothing to fold, her eyes finally landed on the human who she had originally been seeking when she came upstairs.

“Oh Cub,” Aimée sighed out sympathetically when she saw Parker standing in front of her nearly empty closet because the majority of her clothing was piled up around her feet.

At hearing the bearswan’s voice, Parker turned to face her and then she virtually collapsed onto one of the piles of clothing at her feet. Without any conscious thought Aimée rushed to her side and wrapped her in a tight hug. Parker immediately cuddled into Aimée’s embrace as silent tears started to sill out of her eyes.

Aimée rubbed Parker’s back as the human curled up into her side to use the bearswan’s baby bump as a pillow. Aimée then started to pet the length of the human’s hair as she tried to calm her down.

“Shh Parker, it’s okay. We’ll find out who broke into your room and destroyed it. And I promise they will be banned from Sanctuary for life, okay? It’s going to be alright Cub. Now, have you noticed if anything is missing?”

Parker tried to laugh through her tears, but her crying had become so profound that it turned into a choking sob. She then tried to calm herself down but all that that did was cause her to start to hiccup as her tears continued to flow freely.

“Shh… Cub you don’t have to try to talk yet, okay? Just take your time. We’ll figure all this out Sweetie. I swear to you that we will.”

Parker didn’t try to speak while Aimée did her best to continue to soothe her tears away. While she stroke Parker’s hair, Aimée started to sing softly under her breath. Parker snuggled in closer and closer to Aimée’s side while the bear continued to pet her softly and surveyed the damage done to Parker’s room once again.

“Seriously Cub, I can’t believe someone did this to your room.”

Parker snorted in a snotty breath and then said something against Aimée’s protruding belly. Although the bear could feel the human’s lips move against her body, she couldn’t make out what Parker had said prompting her to say, “I’m sorry Cub I couldn’t make that out.”

Parker then took in a deep breath and pushed herself up into a seated position. She swiped her arm under her nose as she tried to take in a couple of slow, deep breaths so that she would be able to speak. Aimée remained silent as she watched the Squire compose herself. She even reached over to squeeze Parker’s knee before she gently pet her thigh to try to let Parker know that she was remaining at her side as moral support for as long as she was needed.

After a few minutes Parker took in a last shaky breath before she quietly said, “Aims? No one… uhh… no one broke in… I… err… I did… I did this…”

“Oh Cub,” Aimée replied as she pet the side of Parker’s head and stifled a laugh at her reluctance to admit the truth. She then lifted Parker’s chin with her bent index finger to try to force the human to look at her. “What aren’t you saying Parker?”

“You’re… you’re… I mean, I’m not going to get banned am I?” Parker finally asked as new tears started streaming down her cheeks.

“Parker! Gods no!” Aimée nearly shouted in shock. She then pulled the Squire into another tight hug. “But that doesn’t mean that I’m not beyond curious to find out what happened in here. Did you lose something Cub?”

Parker shook her head and then took a deep breath as she sat back once again. “I… I uhh… I couldn’t figure out what I umm… what I should wear tonight.”

Aimée’s eyes bugged out at that revelation. “So you destroyed your room?”

“I got a little… umm… frustrated,” Parker replied with an embarrassed blush coloring her cheeks.

“Oh Sweetie, it isn’t… I mean… Cub you should have called me in sooner, I would have been more than happy to help you choose something before… well before it came to this.”

Parker stood up then and started stalking around her room. She kicked a couple of piles of clothes then said, “I don’t think it would help Aims.”

Aimée pushed herself up to her feet so that she could stand behind the distraught human. “Parker you know that tonight is about more than what you’re wearing, right?”

Parker shrugged with Aimée’s hands now gently placed on her shoulders. “I just want her to like me and everyone says that first impressions are the most important thing, so… so I wanted to find the perfect outfit but… but I don’t think that I own it.”

Not focusing on Parker’s negativity, Aimée squeezed her shoulders then rested her chin on one of them saying, “So you were given your Hunter’s name?”

Parker shook her head then pressed her cheek against Aimée’s replying, “No, no name yet. It’s just that after talking to Talon I just figured that Ash or Artemis were shipping a new Hunter into town. Since I’m female, I just figured that my Hunter will be too, y’know?”

“That definitely makes sense Cub. So what look are you aiming for?”

Again Parker shrugged, but this time she let out a loud sigh and picked up one of her discarded drawers to put it back where it belonged. “I’m honestly not absolutely sure. From what I understand, most of the female Dark Hunters are like Amazons or something, so I don’t want to look too cute. She needs to believe tha0t I’m a fierce warrior too or she won’t take me seriously.”

“Alright,” Aimée answered as she moved away from Parker’s back and closer to her bed where she picked up a black undress covered in a motif of skulls and roses. “Well I guess that rules out this dress then because it is super cute.”

Parker blushed and once again avoided making eye contact with Aimée as she replied, “The way it’s cut it’s actually pretty sexy too, I was… umm… for a second I thought that if… umm… but there’s no way, so I…”

“Have had a hard time choosing something else to wear. That’s understandable, but make sure you keep this handy for a date.”

Parker nearly dropped the second drawer that she was trying to put back into place causing Aimée to let out a boisterous laugh. “Don’t give me that look Cub! There are enough single guys here in town that know about our world that I’m sure it won’t be long until you catch someone’s eye. In fact, I would be beyond shocked if you haven’t already.”

Still looking more than surprised and somewhat dumbfounded and confused, Parker answered, “You aren’t…? I mean you don’t…?” She stopped there and pickup up a couple of shirts to fold as she walked to the side of the bed opposite to where Aimée was standing still folding her clothes. “Just please promise me that you won’t set me up with another Squire, okay?”

“Another…? Cub does that mean---”

“Aims can we not get into all of that now?” She turned to make a show of looking around her room before adding, “One problem at a time, right?”

“Right,” Aimée agreed with a warm smile. “So we’re not going for ‘Cute Parker’ tonight, how about a little ‘Bad Ass Parker’ then?”

The Squire shrugged then replied, “I guess that would be good, but I don’t know if I own anything that would qualify.”

Aimée carefully placed the t-shirt she had folded onto her growing pile she had created and gave Parker an unimpressed look. She started shaking her head as she knelt down and pulled out a pair of distressed looking black leather knee high boots. They had fraying black shoe laces woven through their twenty holds, a dark gray skull embroidered on the outside of each boot and a scuffed metal plate on the toes of each. They definitely looked like something Acheron would wear, well if Ash was a girl, and he was the scariest being Aimée knew, so Parker wearing these boots to look like a badass tonight more than made sense to her.

Holding the boots up so that Parker could see them, Aimée then said, “Well I think that these would be a good starting point.”

Parker had the grace to look sheepish as she replied, “I… uhh… Would you believe that I totally forgot that I brought those with me?”

Aimée laughed then made a point to turn her head as she looked around the room answering, “Actually yes Parker I think you might be able to convince me of that.”

“Har, har,” Parker replied sarcastically. “So we have boots. GREAT! Now oh wise bear, what in Hades am I going to wear with those kick ass boots?”

Aimée shrugged just a second before her eyes flew open wide. She then reached out to pick up a black and gray infinity scarf off of Parker’s beside table and held it up saying, “This would be good too.”

“Great,” the dejected Squire said as she walked around her bed to Aimée’s side. “So I have boots and a scarf. Do you think she’ll like me better if I show up in just that? Oh I might have some black lacey underwear to go with them.”

Aimée appeared to be giving that proposition some earnest thought, so Parker gently hit the bear’s upper arm with the back of her hand as she whined out, “Aimée come on, be serious! If she was a ‘he’ that might… but then again we can’t… gods this is just… it’s fucking hopeless.”

“No, it isn’t,” Aimée insisted forcefully as she took the scarf out of Parker’s hand and placed it on the end of the bed. “Like I said, it’s a start, which is miles closer to the finish line than you were before I got here. Now I’m thinking something like a pair of black tights or a pair of distressed skinny jeans would go perfectly with the boots. Any chance you have something like that in this disaster area?”

Parker tried to glare at Aimée for the slight jab, but she was feeling too relieved to accomplish it. Instead she smiled and nodded as she walked over to the few remaining articles of clothing that were hanging in her closet. As much as she didn’t want to admit it, Aimée was right. Parker should have called her friend in sooner because now that she had talked to someone about her insecurities and cleared them from her mind, she was actually able to think more rationally. But more importantly, she was pretty sure she knew exactly what outfit she want to wear with the boots and scarf Aimée had found.

The bearswan sat down on a chair beside the Squire’s bed as she watched the human move around her room with a renewed purpose. She knew that Parker was feeling beyond nervous about the meeting tonight and making the right impression, so Aimée mentally kicked herself for not coming upstairs to check on her sooner. Although she knew about Parker’s nervousness, she was pretty sure that no one could have predicted that Parker would have reacted quite like this.

While she was lost in her thoughts, Aimée didn’t see that Parker had pulled together a complete outfit. The Squire was standing by the foot of her bed holding a long dark gray tunic styled knitted sweater and a pair of black leggings with strategically placed rips on the knees and thighs with an expectant look on her face.

When she noticed that Aimée didn’t appear to be paying attention, Parker quietly called out, “Is this close to what you were picturing Aims?”

After gently shaking her head Parker saw Aimée’s eyes focus as a warm smile spread across her face. “That is better than I imagined.” She then stood up and moved the chair back to being in front of Parker’s vanity as she continued to say, “Why don’t you get changed and then I’ll help you finish getting ready so that we can get this show on the road?”

Parker was already starting to remove the over-sized sweatshirt she was wearing, so her voice was completely muffled when she answered, “Okay.”

Once Parker had changed into everything but the scarf and boots, she moved closer to where Aimée was waiting for her. Without saying a word Aimée ushered the Squire into her vacant seat and started to brush her hair. With every stroke of the brush, some of Parker’s feelings of nervousness and apprehension seemed to disappear until she was actually starting to look like she was genuinely relaxed. Aimée had to bite her lip to stifle a giggle because she didn’t want to do anything to disturb Parker while she had such a look of contentment on her face.

Instead she started to bundle the humans hair together as she quietly explained, “I was thinking that we could pull your hair back into a simple ponytail and give you a minimalist make-up look so that your Hunter can see you, like SEE YOU see you. We can always do up a whole Goth look for you for the next time you go out to a club and wear your kick ass boots.”

Parker took over doing her hair and did not thing to hide her not so subtle groan. “That’s okay Aimée. I tried to go Goth when I was in high school and I failed miserably at it. The hair was the only thing that worked, the rest was just… well awful.”

This time Aimée allowed herself to laugh at Parker’s apparent awkwardness. “Alright no ghost faces for you. So let’s forget about all of that and let’s get you ready for tonight.”

It didn’t take the bearswan and the Squire long to do the finishing touches on Parker’s outfit, but for some reason Parker still wasn’t feeling like she wanted to leave her room. As such she tried to use any tactic she could come up with to stall herself and to keep herself in the safety of her bedroom. First she decided her hair wasn’t right, but after trying four different hair styles, she ultimately returned to her original style of a simple ponytail.

After a couple of attempts by Parker to change her pants and her shirt, Aimée finally recognized what the human was attempting to do. She then put her foot down and almost physically forced the Squire to put on her boots. Parker quickly took over the task of lacing up her boots and didn’t say anything about Aimée wrapping the scarf around her neck because she was worried that she would actually anger her friend and that the bear would abandon her to face this newest challenge in the young human’s life on her own.

They were just finishing with their very last touch ups on Parker’s outfit when they both froze in their spots at hearing someone knocking on Parker’s bedroom door. Parker stared at Aimée like a deer caught in the headlights, so Aimée patted her arm to try to ease some of her fears.

“You finish up with your boots Cub, I’ll go see who it is and what they want,” Aimée offered with another pat on Parker’s arm.

Parker just nodded as she slipped her foot into the first boot and started to weave the laces through the holes. She was tempted to pick up her cellphone and check the time, but she forced herself not to do it. She was sure that she was dangerously close to being late for her meeting, but she still wanted to delay leaving her room for as long as possible.

“Yeah I know, she’s almost ready,” she overheard Aimée retort with a hint of a growl in her tone.

“Hey, look, don’t shoot the messenger. I heard them bitching and moaning that the Squire was still MIA when her Hunter is expected to be here any second now. Again, I’m just passing on the information, it’s not like I really care what happens,” an equally incensed male’s voice replied.

“I know, I know. I’m sorry.” Aimée looked up and batted her eyes at him then added, “I didn’t mean to snap at you Remi, it’s just that my hormones are so out of whack right now.”

Parker heard Remi growl at his sister as she quickly laced up her second boot so that she could rush over to the door. Once she made it to Aimée’s side she heard the two bears share a soft chuckle before Remi said, “And you, little sister, won’t be able to use that as an excuse forever.”

“I know, but it definitely works for now.”

“And then after that she can just claim sleep deprivation, especially if she ends up having a big litter on her first go around,” Parker added with an amused tone.

“Shh… don’t give away all of my secrets Cub. The boys aren’t supposed to know about all of that yet,” Aimée playfully chastised the Squire.

Parker’s cheeks pinked slightly as she meekly replied, “Sorry Aims. I promise I won’t do it again.”

Aimée smiled and wrapped her arm around Parker’s neck to pull her into a side hug. “That’s all I can ask. So? Are you ready to head out and meet your Hunter?”

The Squire slipped out from under the bear’s arm so that she could step into the hallway to spread her arms out as she answered, “I think so. What do you think?”

“You look great!” Aimée replied enthusiastically and with a bright smile.

“I’d lose the scarf,” Remi replied shocking both females into silence. He put his hands up in a sign of surrender in reaction to the looks on both of the women’s faces. “Sorry, I thought we were giving our opinions on Parker’s outfit. I’ll shut up now.”

Parker was the first to recover and she quickly said, “No, no! I do want your opinion… I mean I did, it’s just… well… I didn’t… err… not that… I mean…” She stopped herself there and took a deep breath to try to slow her thoughts down. “I meant to say ‘thank you’ for your critique. But do you mind me asking why you don’t like it? I only ask because Aimée and I thought that it helped to complete the outfit.”

“It definitely would if you were going out to dinner or something, but since this is kind of like a job interview, I’d say it’s too much. It kind of looks like you’re trying to hide your neck which would make me wonder if you let people feed form you.” Parker’s hand instinctively went to her neck as if she was trying to touch or hid a mark that didn’t exist. “Plus it isn’t very practical for fighting.”

“But I won’t be fighting anyone. Even if there are Daimons here, no one is allowed to touch them because this is a sanctuary.”

“True, but what if he or she asks you to show off some of your skills? Won’t it get in your way?”

“I could take it off if that happens,” Parker answered in a quiet, unsure tone.

“And that’s going to make a great impression because Squires aren’t supposed to be battle ready at all times or anything,” he retorted with a sarcastic bite.

Parker started to look truly embarrassed so Aimée quickly jumped in to try to defend her saying, “Okay Remi, that’s enough. Thank ----”

“No,” Parker interrupted. “No, he’s totally right Aims… about all of it. Thanks Remi. I hadn’t thought about any of that.”

“It’s no problem,” he answered with a soft smile tugging at his lips.

“Okay, I’ll just need another minute to… umm… fix my outfit.”

The bears watched in silence as the human turned and rushed back into her room. Once she was sure that they were alone, Aimée turned to her brother and said in a teasing tone, “So that was a lot of words coming from you. And to a human? Wow. You must REALLY like her.”

Remi glared at his sister then turned on his heel to start to walk away. Aimée immediately started to follow him. That reaction wasn’t what she had expected, so she grabbed his arm to stop him so that she could try to apologize.

“Remi, I’m really sorry. I wouldn’t have teased you about her if I you that you really do have feelings for her,” she recanted in a truly contrite tone.

“It isn’t like that Aimée,” Remi replied with his anger still present in his voice. “She likes to clean up at night and she gets really chatty when she does it. Since I’ve gotten in the habit of doing it alone, I end up in the room with her, which means I get to listen to her. At first it was kind of annoying, but she doesn’t actually expect me to respond so I can sort of tune her out, but even then it’s kind of hard to do because, I mean she’s just so… Well she’s a good kid and I know how much she’s been stressing out about tonight, so I wanted to help her out to make sure things don’t suck for her. Y’know… since her parents aren’t around to do it and all?”

“Wow… so you two have become like friends or something?”

Remi glared at his sister again for the surprise he heard in her voice. “Yes Aimée, we’ve become friends. I am capable of doing that.”

“Remi, I’m sorry, but it’s just that ----”

“Why don’t I stop you there before we both say something that we’ll regret, okay?”

“Okay,” Aimée whispered out in agreement.

“And you better go check on the Squire. She’s got less than twenty minutes until midnight and if she’s late she’ll be wicked pissed off with herself… not to mention so will her Hunter and the Squire’s Council.”

“Oh… yeah… right. Th----”

Remi hadn’t waited for his sister to reply and was already halfway down the hall by the time she tried to thank him. She was watching him intently so she jumped when she felt someone touch her arm. She managed to hide her reaction on her face and instead plastered a warm smile on it by the time she turned to look at Parker.

“Okay, so I think I’m finally ready now.”

Aimée could hear the uncertainty that was trying to worm its way into Parker’s mind so she tried her best to be reassuring. “You look great Parker. And I can’t even tell where you’ve hidden a few weapons.”

Parker’s eyes bugged out slightly as she stammered out, “How did…? If you can’t see…?”

“After what Remi said I figured that you would conceal a few weapons to prove that you’re always prepared.” Parker blushed at her misunderstanding so Aimée reached out to give her hand a squeeze. “So Cub, did you want me to go up there with you?”

“No, I think I have to do that on my own,” the Squire replied as she leaned forward to give the bear a tight hug. “But thank you so much for the offer and for all of your help tonight.”

As they both leaned out of the embrace, Aimée raised her right hand up to cup Parker’s check saying, “Always happy to help. Now you know where to find me if you need me. Please don’t hesitate to call, alright?”

“I do… thanks again Aims.”

                                    ***************************************

Parker had stolen a quick glance at a clock while she made the appropriate modifications to her outfit, so she at least knew that she wasn’t going to be late. Granted she wasn’t as early as she had hoped to be, but she was willing to sacrifice some time to make as perfect of a first impression as she could manage. Well thanks to Remi she was actually feeling like she was ready to start the next phase in her life.

Remi. She shook her head when her thoughts turned to the bear that she never thought that she would ever befriend. For as long as she could remember he had been the surly, angry and usually scary version of Dev. She had even joke with her mom that maybe the set of identical quadruplet bears were actually one person split into four. They had never shared that theory with any of the Peltiers and it was an inside joke just between the two of them that Parker’s mother had taken to the grave. But now it felt like she and Remi had actually become friends and he seemed to better understand what it took to be a good Squire than she did.

If she was being honest with herself it was that last thought that bothered her the most. Here she was, a multi-generational Squire who had been studying and training practically her entire life to only do that one job, so why did it seem like a shape shifting bear understood the job better than her?

At that moment she heard the familiar sound of pool balls clanging together on the table where two patrons were playing. That sound jostled a memory of the first time she had played pool at that very same table with her dad. She had been watching people play for years, so she understood the rules and concepts of the actions required to win the game, but when she had tried to take her first shot she had failed miserably. Her dad had then sat her down, like he had on many occasions, to illustrate a life lesson. This time he explained that she couldn’t rely solely on mastering an understanding of the theory of anything because that was only the half of it; that the hands on could be a completely different story. For her right now she reminded herself that her only physical interactions with Dark Hunters had been in a social or academic setting, everything else she had learned about being a Squire had just been in theory. Remi, however, had spent centuries living with and helping Dark Hunters and Squires so it made perfect sense that he would understand the practicalities of being a proper Squire. Hell, he had probably even witnessed said interaction on a much more frequent basis because her parents had been Dorean Squires who weren’t tied to any one Hunter, so she really didn’t get to see them performing their appointed roles.

“Yeah, that’s totally it,” she reasoned out loud as she started up the stairs to the floor that was prohibited from being used by any uninitiated humans. “I mean there’s nothing else ----”

Parker paused in her spot because she could hear the soft murmur of male voices. Since she knew she wasn’t late, she remained silent in her spot so that she could make sure they were members of the party she was to meet and not some Were-Hunters who had just teleported into Sanctuary.

“I don’t know what to tell you Sir,” Parker overheard a familiar voice stating in a fairly condescending tone. “As I’ve told you before, I’m surprised that you’ve given her a post here because she isn’t the most reliable person.”

“Why you little…” Parker whispered to herself, feeling her anger starting to boil over. As she stepped into the room she announced her presence by angrily saying, “Last time I checked arriving fifteen minutes before you were told to be somewhere is not considered unreliable, Otto.”

The other Squire snorted in a laugh, but before he could say anything in reply they heard a male voice answer, “That is very true Ms. Wallace. Thank you for joining us early. I do appreciate when colleagues are punctual.”

“Uhh… you’re welcome… Sir?” She replied in a questioning tone as she looked around the room to find the man to whom the voice belonged.

Otto chuckled again and then held up the iPad he had in his hands higher for Parker to see it. As her eyes moved to the male’s face on the screen, her gaze briefly landed on Otto’s face. It was of no surprise to her that he was wearing a haughty look of superiority and she had to make a very conscious effort not to visibly react to it because she knew it would not go over well with the head of the Squire Council who was staring right at her.

“I must apologize for my unorthodox presence here tonight, but myself and many of the other Council members are in the middle of trying to rectify a situation in Vancouver right now. Since Mr. Carvalletti has been a well-respected Squire in New Orleans for many years no, he has offered to take our place to assist you with the transition of starting your role as an Echo Squire with your Dark Hunter.”

“I’ve heard about some of the issues up there Sir, I hope all is going well for you. And please don’t worry about not being here…” She paused and tried not to show that she was saying the next bit through gritted teeth. “I’m sure Otto… uhh Mr. Carvalletti will do a fine job of helping me settle in. Thank you for your consideration.”

Otto made a face at Parker’s polite words because he knew they were nowhere close to the real emotions she was feeling. Parker bit down on a small tuft of her inner lip to remind herself not to make a face back at him and to watch her words. Although she came from a long line of Squires, she had lived a fairly sheltered life so she didn’t really know any of the members of the Squire’s Council very well. She knew that meant that her words and actions could be easily misinterpreted. Otto on the other hand, he was a little poster boy for them, who she was sure would even offer to pleasure the whole council orally to make sure he got his way. Well that was if she didn’t already know that he was painfully heterosexual. Alright, even then she could admit that those were just her vindictive mind letting her think nasty thoughts since she couldn’t voice them… yet.

“Ms. Wallace? Does that sound alright to you?”

Parker didn’t snap out of her own thoughts until she heard Otto snort in another condescending laugh. She watched him open his mouth, but before he could utter another sound she quickly answered, “Of course it does Sir. If you think it’s best, who am I to argue?”

He laughed softly then replied, “It’s good to hear that you are as intelligent as I have heard you would be. I don’t anticipate you will have any issues with your new Dark Hunter as you were handpicked for this position, but you know how to reach us should you require anything from us. May the gods and goddesses be with you on this new journey.”

“Hand…?” She quietly started to ask before she caught herself. “Thank you Sir. And may they bless you all as well while you work on resolving that issue up North.”

“From your lips to their ears. All the best to you Ms. Wallace.”

He gave her one last quick smile before the screen went completely black. Once council member’s face disappeared, Parker let herself get lost in her own thoughts again. When she was told that she was going to be moving back to New Orleans she assumed that it was because she was the next Squire on the list to be placed with the next Dark Hunter needing one, but to hear she was handpicked…

“Whoa,” she finally whispered softly to herself.

“Don’t let the ‘handpicked’ comment go to your head. I was too for my last post and I got stuck with Count Penicula,” Otto announced in an annoyed, patronizing tone.

Finally able to do it without recourse from the council, Parker finally levelled him with an enraged filled glare before she angrily retorted, “Shut up.”

After her simple reply she turned on her heel and stomped towards a couch siting against a wall on the opposite side of the room from where Otto was standing. Parker’s preference would have been to head straight to the bar to down one of the bottles of beer she had noticed that the bartenders only served to members of the preternatural community, but she had a Hunter to meet and she wasn’t going to let anyone scare her off. Especially not Otto.

“Ouch that almost hurt. Oh wait, no. I meant to say that it didn’t hurt at all. So I see ----”

“SHUT UP!” Parker nearly shrieked as she turned to point an angry, accusatory finger at the other Squire. “I don’t care about what you have to say! And I never did! So just shut your fucking mouth!”

Otto looked shocked for about half a second before he recovered himself to coolly reply, “Hey, listen here Kiddo ----”

Parker’s eyes went wide at hearing the nickname she loathed that only Otto had ever used as she once again interrupted him by bellowing out at the top of her lungs, “I SAID SHUT UP!”

“Wow. I guess it’s a good thing that this floor has been soundproofed,” a new male’s voice announced with a soft chuckle. “And here I thought you were actually a ladies’ man Otto.”

Otto just shook his head at that comment and ignored it to reply, “What are you doing here Nick?”

Parker turned towards what would be considered the back wall of the room to find a tall, muscular white man stepping towards them. He had that dark and brooding vibe that she associated with Were-Hunters, so for a second she thought he had teleported here because that’s what he was, but then she saw it. On one cheek and the side of his neck he had a familiar double bow and arrow brand. Parker had become familiar with how the goddess’ brand differed from a tattoo so she tried to hide her wince that accompanied her contemplating what he had done to cause Artemis to drain his soul form such a conspicuous spot.

Nick shrugged as he replied, “I was told to be here at midnight sharp, so I came… but only because I’m curious to find out why the Squire’s Council thinks that they can still order me around.”

“They told you…? Oh shit, no way,” Otto said as he looked between the two of them. He started to laugh then said, “Oh gods, I can’t believe they did this, but Nick meet your new Squire.”

Nick turned his tall, bulky frame so that he could inspect the petite woman in front of him. Parker tried not to, but she ended up taking a step back and away from him because there was something about the man standing in front of her that completely unnerved her. Although she would be lying if she said that she didn’t find him attractive, the aura around him definitely kept her from being attracted to him. He smirked at the fact that she couldn’t help but to shy away from him because at least now he knew she had some brains behind that cute face.

“But I didn’t ask for a Squire,” Nick replied as he maintained painfully direct eye contact with Parker. Although she wanted to break it, Parker forced herself to hold his gaze. One corner of Nick’s lips quirked as if he was acknowledging that he was impressed that she didn’t flinch from his staring contest first before he turned to look in Otto’s direction to add, “I don’t need one.”

Otto shrugged and replied, “Hey man, I didn’t make the decision to give you one, I’m just here to make the introductions between you. But in all honesty, even if you did want one of us to work for you, you definitely deserve someone much better than her.”

“Dick,” Parker scoffed out under her breath.

Nick turned his penetrating gaze back towards her and lifted a questioning brow as he asked, “You don’t agree?”

Parker was glaring at Otto so intensely that Nick’s question actually caused her to jump in her spot. She then softened the look on her face before she turned to look at the man she was supposed to start work for and answered, “I’m sorry. I know you two are like friends or something, but no I don’t agree with him… pretty much ever. He’s a sanctimonious prick who doesn’t know his ass from a hole in the wall. So, no I wouldn’t want him to write my bio anytime soon or to hear his judgmental bullshit.”

Parker’s strong words caused Nick to laugh out loud. He then turned back to Otto saying, “It doesn’t sound like she likes you at all.”

“Whatever,” Otto replied with a nonchalant shrug. “You know that I don’t sweat the opinions of the mentally deficient.”

“Excuse me?” Parker replied in a tone of pure indignation.

Nick smirked at the fact that the unknown woman no longer appeared to be trying to impress him. She now only had eyes for the other human in the room. He suppressed a chuckle as he moved to the couch to watch the two Squires brawl, at least verbally… for now.

“Sorry, those were really big words. Here, I’ll simplify it for you; I don’t give a shit about what stupid people say about me,” Otto answered in a tone so condescending that Nick was surprised that she hadn’t slap him yet.

“Stupid? Are you kidding me? I graduated at the top of my class. Not top percent, at the actual fucking top, number one spot. I speak and read just as many languages fluently as you do. What in that makes me the mentally deficient one?” Parker countered taking a single step towards the other Squire.

Otto started to preen in his spot as he replied, “Well I have a PhD from Princeton.”

“In fucking Film Studies,” Parker countered with a cruel laugh. “Oh how do I put a DVD into the player? Was that day one?”

Nick let out a bark of a laugh which drew Otto’s attention back to him. “What? She’s funny.”

“So not helping,” Otto growled before he turned his attention back to Parker. “And you have what? A high school diploma from a bullshit school set up to house the children of Squires that they don’t want to deal with anymore?”

Parker froze in her spot because that comment was like a punch in the gut. She almost had troubles breathing because of his low blow. Otto’s steely exterior softened ever so slightly at her reaction which helped to stoke the fire in her belly which in turn gave her a second wind because she didn’t want to see him pity her in any way.

Parker stood up taller in her place as she confidently stated, “Actually I just completed my BA in Ancient Civilizations and Ancient Languages. In fact I’ve even been accepted into a Master’s program that Dr. Alexander oversees at Loyola. How’s that for being orphaned to the Squire’s Boarding School?”

Otto was actually stunned into silence prompting Parker to turn towards Nick to more calmly add, “That is if it’s… I mean I was going to…” Parker stopped herself there and slammed her eyes closed while she angrily chastised herself for rambling. After a couple of seconds she opened her eyes and then tried to explain what had just happened. “Sorry about that, I have a bad habit of… well… Anyways, that’s not important, what I meant to say was that I have been accepted to the program but I haven’t enrolled in it yet. I wanted to make sure that my Hunter was okay with it first.”

Nick shrugged then said, “Julian’s a pretty good guy. I’m sure you can work something out with him so that your Squire duties won’t interfere with your studies.”

“Julian?” Parked questioned as she slowly made her way towards the couch. “Does that mean that you know Dr. Alexander?”

“His name is actually Julian of Macedonia. He was ----”

“The sex slave on the scroll?” Parker interrupted inadvertently due to her surprise. “Sorry I didn’t mean to interrupt you. I swear I’ll work harder at not doing that.”

Nick chuckled then replied, “It’s totally fine. I’m honestly just shock that you know the story about him.”

Parker sat down beside Nick and turned so that she could place her elbow on the back of it. Nick was still one of the scarier beings she had been around, but she told herself that she had to get over her fear or else she wouldn’t be able to work for him. If she ignored the air around him and just focused on his face, then she might be able to convince herself that he was just another cute guy that she was trying to impress.

“Well Squire-hood is in my blood, so it seemed pretty natural to study the myth and legends of the Greek pantheon. Since Julian is Aphrodite’s son, I read everything that I could get my hands on about the scroll myth… err… I meant to say legend.”

“Yeah make sure you say ‘legend’ because it’ll probably just annoy him if he hears you call his life story a myth.”

Parker groaned softly and covered her face with one of her hands. “Oh gods, I hadn’t even thought of it that way. Ugh what’s his face over there might actually have a point, I’m the worst.”

“You aren’t that bad,” Nick offered as he placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. “Trust me, I’ve been known to stick my foot in my mouth on more occasions than I dare to admit, _Chère_.”

“Thanks, that’s really nice of you to say. So since Otto seems to have dropped the ball, it’s nice to meet you Nick, I’m Parker Wallace.”

Otto scoffed then said under his breath, “I didn’t drop anything, you just ramble on so much all of the time that no one can get a word in edgewise.”

“Parker? Wait does that make you Jimmy’s daughter?”

“Yeah, that it does.”

All of the features on Nick’s face softened so much that Parker almost felt silly for thinking him to be sinister or scary. “He was a great Squire and an equally good man. He fought hard and all of us were saddened by his loss.”

“Thank you,” Parker whispered before she swallowed thickly. “I heard about what happened here with… well y’know. It sounded like a truly horrific time to be here. I never had the privilege of meeting your mother, but I can tell that her loss can be felt here. Customers still talk about her kindness.”

“She was the best. So tell me more about what it was like for you to go to school overseas.”

Otto watched the two of them settle onto the couch and start chatting like they were lifelong friends. He knew that Parker could never work as Nick’s Squire, but he held his tongue because he also knew that she would never listen to him, no matter how in the right he may be. So he instead just stepped back into the shadows to watch them, just in case.

What he didn’t know was that he had actually stepped to stand directly beside Artemis who had kept herself invisible so that she could watch the introductions. No one was to know what she had been the one that had picked this Squire especially for Nick because she wanted to do something to make his life easier. Plus, as she had reasoned with herself, he was now a Dark Hunter, so he should have a Squire. She was providing him what was rightfully due to him, so she really wasn’t giving him any special treatment. Even if that’s what she was sure everyone would accuse her of doing, especially her daughter Katra, who was trying to constantly demonstrate to her mother how she would be able to show the people around her that she cared. Artemis still wasn’t certain that it was up to her to do that since she was the goddess and people were supposed to worship her.

When she heard Nick say, “Parker? Wait does that make you Jimmy’s daughter?” she let her emotions get the better of her and she became visible as she shouted, “No! NO! That’s not right!”

Otto and Parker jumped in their places while Nick just looked bored. As she watched the beautiful redhead dressed all in white stalk her way towards them, Parker moved away from Nick as far as she could without getting off the couch. She wasn’t sure who the woman was, although she did look vaguely familiar to the Squire, but Parker figured she had to have some sort of magical ability because she had just appeared in the room. That meant that she would be able to hurt Parker fairly easily, so she wanted to try to appease her in any way that she could and right now that meant getting some distance between herself and the man that held the new comers attention.

“Artie, what are you doing here?” Nick finally asked in an unimpressed tone.

“Artie? You don’t mean…? She isn’t…?” Parker whispered in wide-eyed fear.

“Yeah it’s the goddess you all have pledged to serve,” he replied while stifling a yawn.

Artemis pouted at Nick then said, “I wanted to make sure that you got along with your new Squire alright.” She then turned her burning green gaze towards Parker as she stated heatedly, “Yes human, I am the goddess Artemis. And you better remember that because you really don’t want to get dirty with me.”

Parker stared at her in stunned, reverent disbelief until the goddess’ words registered in her mind. Artemis smiled because she had rendered he human speechless, but Nick could tell it wasn’t just Artemis’ presence that kept Parker silent. He saw how her eyebrows started to knit together as her thoughts started to race in her head.

He then leaned over to quietly tell her, “She meant to say ‘mess with her’… you don’t want to mess with her.”

“What?” Parker asked automatically, still looking dazed.

Nick leaned back then directed his commentary towards Artemis in the hopes that it would jostle Parker out of her stupor. “Mess with you, Artie. The phrase is ‘you don’t want to mess with me’.”

Artemis made a noise of disgust before saying, “Like I care.” She then turned her angry eyes back to Parker while she snapped, “Why are you lying? You aren’t Parker Wallace. He was the top of his class in every subject including weapons forging and stuff to do with fixing cars. He’s also a master marksman in all known types of firearms as well as archery and swordsmanship. He’s… he’s the perfect Squire.”

Parker blushed at what should have been considered a compliment and then nearly whispered out, “I wanted to be sure that I could be prepared for anything my Hunter might need me to do.”

“No, it isn’t you,” Artemis retorted, sounding like a petulant child.

Nick stole a quick glance at Parker and saw that she was on the verge of breaking down into tears. One lesson that his mother had taught him that he could never forget was that he should ease any woman’s tears any chance he was given.

With that in mind he asked the goddess, “When you were checking out Squires’ résumés, did you by chance check if they were male or female?”

Artemis squirmed slightly and stared at her feet as she replied, “No, they didn’t include any of that.”

“Well then,” Nick retorted almost mockingly. He then stood up and took a couple of steps closer to Parker where he offered her his hand. Reluctantly she placed her hand on his palm and was hoisted up to her feet. He then gently led her to stand in front of Artemis as he said, “Artemis I would like to introduce you to Parker Wallace. SHE comes from a long line of Squires and is very excited to finally put her education to work as one.”

Artemis raked her eyes over Park and looked less than impressed. When she spoke, she only directed her words towards Nick. “But she can’t be YOUR Squire.”

“Okay, especially since I didn’t ask for one.”

Artemis smiled and opened her mouth to reply but stopped when she heard a pitiful sounding, “Please?”

Nick turned to look at Parker who once again looked like she could burst into tears at any second. Seeing Nice give the human his full attention caused Artemis to turn her eyes towards Parker as well.

As soon as the two women made eye contact, Parker tearfully pleaded, “Please? I swear I will be a great Squire to him. Please your… uhh… goddessness… uhh Ma’am, please let me stay, please?”

Groveling, now that was something that pleased Artemis greatly. She crossed her arms over her chest and then replied, “Since you asked so nicely, I might actually consider it. Now, if you are as good of a Squire as you say you are, then you know that girl Squires can’t work for male Hunters unless…” By this time Artemis had started to walk a circle around Parker. She knew she was making the human nervous and she was really enjoying it. “Unless… are you married?” The goddess snatched up the human’s left hand and then clucked her tongue at her. “It doesn’t appear so. How about being a lover of women?”

Otto finally snorted out a laugh but Artemis ignored it while Nick gave him a questioning look Otto just waved a hand at the Dark Hunter while he clamped his other hand over his mouth.

“I think the other Squire is rudely implying that that’s a no. What about you, Potential Squire Parker?”

With her chin turned down and eyes staring at her feet Parker whispered out an almost inaudible, “No.”

“I’m sorry, I couldn’t hear you,” Artemis replied in a faux sing-song voice.

Parker closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. Once she was sure that she somewhat had her emotions in check, she opened her eyes and tried to make eye contact with the goddess as she more audibly replied, “No Ma’am. I’m neither married, nor a lesbian.”

“Well then there we have it,” Artemis announced as she stood up tall in her place closer to the center of the room. “If you might have a chance of being attracted to your Hunter then you can’t be a Squire for him.”

Parker’s eyes went walk at hearing that, but it was Nick who replied, “Artie, come on. You know that she and I won’t ----”

“NO!” Artemis shouted over the rest of Nick’s statement while stamping her foot like a toddler on the verge of a temper tantrum. “No, it’s not allowed! It’s… it’s… It’s Acheron’s rule and you know that that means that it can’t be broken.”

Nick scoffed and rolled his eyes. Parker gently touched his arm to keep him silent before she meekly replied, “Of course, it’s one of the cardinal rules. You are more than correct my goddess. I’ll… I’ll just…”

At that point Parker’s voice broke, so she sucked in a breath and tried to hold in her tears. Since she wasn’t sure that she wouldn’t be to hold her tears in, she chose to just leave. Parker knew she was a woman in a man’s world, so she didn’t want any of them to misinterpret the origins of her tears.

As Parker got closer to the stairs, Nick took a step forward and called out her name. She didn’t stop moving, so the moved to follow, but he was stopped by the other Squire in the room stepping in front of him.

“I’ve got Parker,” Otto said as he raised a hand to physically stop the Dark Hunter. “You go and try to calm down the goddess.”

Since the only interactions he had witnessed between the two Squires could only be described as negative, Nick gave Otto a questioning look as he inquired, “You sure?”

“Yeah… well no, but I have absolutely no sway with Artemis, so it only seems logical.”

Nick chuckled then answered, “ _Touché. Bonne chance._ ”

Otto didn’t reply to that and instead rushed to follow Parker’s route. By the time he was down the stairs, she was no longer in view, so he remained cemented in his spot while he tried to find her. He knew he would be the last person from whom Parker would accept any form of comfort, but he still had to try. She had a tendency to internalize things which led to her being self-destructive. He still wasn’t sure if it was a conscious effort or not, but when she was upset with other people he knew that it usually led to her losing her temper, which in turn led to her getting hurt.

When he finally spotted her again, Otto could see that Parker was moving calmly through the dining room. He watched her intently and only allowed himself to relax once he noticed that she never once attempted to raise her hands up to her face, which to him meant that she hadn’t started crying and therefore didn’t need to do anything to try to conceal it.

Otto turned to make his way back up the stairs to see how Nick was doing when he heard a familiar woman’s voice worriedly calling out, “Parker? Cub?”

Faster than any human should be able to do, Otto moved stealthily through the dining room until he was at Aimée’s side. Not wanting to startle the pregnant Were Hunter any more than he needed to, Otto simply touched her forearm with the tips of his fingers of one hand. Thankfully she stopped to investigate who had touched her without treating it like she was being attacked.

“Umm… it’s Otto, right? Whatever you need, I’m sure that one of our servers will be happy to help you. I have somewhere important I have to be.”

After that statement she turned to continue to follow Parker. Otto then tightened his grip on her forearm. When she turned back to look at him, Otto immediately released her flesh and said, “I’m sorry, I’m not trying to challenge or fight you Aimée, I swear to you that I’m not.”

Her demeanor soften slightly as she replied, “Alright. Explain.”

Otto heaved out a relieved sigh. “Parker just got some really shitty news, so she probably needs some time to process.” He saw Aimée perk up and look like she was ready to jump into action so he added, “She has a tendency to take her anger out on the first target she meets… I think she would be devastated if she took this out on you.”

Aimée took a second to digest that and couldn’t help but to nod. “You’re right. But do you think that she’s going to be okay?”

Although Otto loathed to have to lie to an ally of so many Dark Hunters, he nodded then answered, “Of course she will.”

 


	6. Chapter 5

When Parker heard Artemis nearly stutter out “It’s… it’s… it’s Acheron’s rule, so you know it can’t be broken”, she knew that she was sunk. No one argued with Acheron, at least no sane human being that Parker had met had ever claimed to have done something so daring.

She sucked in a painful breath and was more than willing to silently wallow in self-pity when she saw Nick dramatically roll his eyes. Although she had heard rumors about the rift between the former friends, she really didn’t want to be the reason that he took the big guy on; she wasn’t worth that because they weren’t close. They had only just met and despite him knowing and possibly having befriended her father, it still wasn’t her that he owed any type of allegiance. Maybe one day they could have become that close, but it was looking like that dream was completely lost.

Parker then gently touched Nick’s arm to try to keep him silent before she meekly replied, “Of course, it’s one of the cardinal rules. You are more than correct my goddess. I’ll… I’ll just…”

At that point she felt her voice start to crack, so she heaved in a breath and tried her best to hold in her tears. Since she wasn’t that she would be able to hold in the waterworks, she chose to just leave. Parker knew that she was a woman in a man’s world, so she didn’t want any of them to misinterpret the origins of her tears; especially when it came to Otto. She felt like she had already shared too much with him and had been at the receiving end of enough of his judgments that she really didn’t need to hear it from him when she felt like her world was crashing and burning around her.

Miraculously she made it down the stairs without anyone trying to stop her and (more importantly) without falling flat on her face by tripping down them. Her breathing had started to even out as she moved through the dining room, so she decided to make a bee-line straight to her bedroom to start cleaning and packing up. While she did that she hoped that she could come up with the words to explain everything to Aimée and Dev. She doubted that they would ever fully understand her rationale, but she knew that she at least had to try to get them to see her side.

As she swiftly moved between the tables in the dining room she caught a glimpse of Aimée as she entered the same room. Parker immediately abandoned her original plan because it would mean that she would have to pass right by her friend. As much as she loved the bears and all of the other Were-Hunters she had being living with for the last week, she knew that their concern for her would mean that she wouldn’t get a moment alone to think or re-evaluate; plus she really needed some time to wallow in self-pity after seeing that look in Otto’s eyes. Yeah that topic so wasn’t something that she was ready to get into with anyone, especially Aimée, just yet.

Parker then diverted her course for a door that would lead to the back alley that wasn’t close to the kitchen or Peltier House. She prayed to any god or goddess that might help her that Aimée wouldn’t see her. As her luck would usually have it, which meant it was pretty much non-existent, she thought that she heard Aimée call out her name. The next breath she took in was shaky and verged on turning into a sob, so she kept her focus solely on the door that was her temporary salvation. As she reached it she noticed that she hadn’t heard Aimée call out her name again, so she let out a sigh of relief thinking that she had hallucinated that whole scenario.

Once she reached the exit door, she paused and took in a deep breath. Immediately she was assaulted by the scents of the food coming out of the kitchen, the stale beer people had spilled all over the room and just the generic scent of sweaty people. It was supposed to be a cleansing breath to help center herself, but instead it was so revolting that she now had a new reason to get the hell out of the building.

Parker shoved at the door until she was met with the sweet odor of fresh air. She took in another deep breath and this time she got hints of fresh air, rotting fish, stale alcohol and creole food cooking that she always associated with New Orleans. It might not be the most inviting scents to some, but to her it was home.

When that comforting scent assailed her, Parker whispered out a relieved, “Thank the gods.” Now she was feeling a bit more prepared to get her thoughts in order.

But her first plan of action was to find a new sanctuary, so to speak. As she moved through the alley, her true clumsy nature came out and she tripped over basically the first box she encountered. That in turn led to a half a dozen or so bottles tumbling out of it and rolling all over Parker’s path to relative freedom.

“Are you…? Who the fuck…?” She started mumbling to herself as she corralled some bottles together. “Who in Hades did I piss off to deserve all of this bullshit?”

Once Parker had an armful of bottles gathered together she kicked the box so that it was right side up and tried to dump the bottles back into it. A good two thirds of the glass receptacles escaped the cardboard confines of the box, but somehow they didn’t break. Parker decided to turn the bottles upright before she turned her attention to her escapees.

There were a couple of bottles close to her, so Parker remained on her knees as she tried to retrieve them. Somewhat to her surprise they started to roll away from her. Every time that she tried to reclaim it, the bottle seemed to move just far enough to be out of her reach.

“Are you freaking kidding me?” Parker growled under her breath. “I swear Atë, if this is you and you’re just fucking with me… I’ll… I’ll… Okay I have no comeback, but I still don’t need your shit right now.”

This time when Parker reached out to pick up the beer bottle, she was actually able to grasp its neck. As she looked at it she realized it wasn’t Atë or Artemis or anyone else in the Greek pantheon that was the target of her wrath. No, right now she was mad at someone that she knew that she was going to always forgive no matter what.

Before she really became conscious that she was doing it, Parker noticed that she had thrown the bottle towards a brick wall at the opposite end of the alley. As she picked up the next bottle she found, she let her rage take over and she threw it as well towards that same wall yelling, “Fine! If you don’t want to go back where you belong then fine… this is what you get!”

As she found bottles, whether they were the ones that rolled away from her or not, Parker tossed them against the wall.

Remi stepped out into the alleyway with an overfilled bag of garbage when he heard the sound of glass breaking. As much as he hated to admit it, he knew that they would lose patrons if this area suddenly became known as a crime riddled neighborhood. That would mean that his brothers and, more importantly, his sister would become more antsy and anxious about their business. That of course brought his thought to his family, his nieces and nephews specifically, which made it absolutely unacceptable for anyone to victimize their neighborhood.

The sound of the glass breaking became a more frequent, steady, patterned sound, so he figured that the sounds, much to his relief, weren’t coming from a car thief. But as he drew closer to the noise he could hear the distant sound of a female grunting that accompanied the echoes of shattering glass.

“Damn it? Who decided to find Daimons on a slow night?” Remi quietly asked himself as he rushed towards the noise.

By the time Remi rounded the corner where Parker was all but tossing random glass bottles against the wall, she was no longer screaming any discernable words. He was sure that when he first heard the Squire that she was cursing the bottles and their makers, but now she seemed to be trying to scream out her rage with every bottle thrown.

“Parker? PARKER?!” He tried calling out a couple of times. When that didn’t work, Remi then tried using the nickname some of his family used during the Squire’s relatively short lifetime. “Parker? Uhh… Cub? CUB?! Are you alright?”

Parker didn’t acknowledge his presence and instead continued to pick up random bottles off of the ground to hurl at the brick wall. That meant that with every throw she took a few steps and she got closer and closer to the flying debris. For Remi that meant that he would have to follow her somewhat in order to try to get her to listen to him.

“Parker?” He tried again as he got closer to her.

She appeared to almost be in a trance and only had eyes for the bottles that she could destroy. She was still screaming nonsensical words as the bottles left her hand. When he reached her side he flinched and had to duck because they were so close to the wall that the shards of glass were bouncing back and hitting them. If Remi had been slightly concerned about Parker’s mental state, he was now fully worried about her because she didn’t seem to notice that the glass was also hitting her.

As he dodged more shards of glass, Remi noticed what he thought looked like a thin trail of blood running down Parker’s left cheek. He could now also see that she had a wild look in her eyes that told him that trying to reason with her right now would be completely futile. Much like Aimée and his other siblings, Remi didn’t like to draw attention to himself by using his supernatural abilities around humans (truth be told he didn’t like to draw attention to himself period), but he was more than willing to make an exception right now. Using his super human speed, he grabbed her right hand that was still holding a bottle and spun her around so that he could pin her against the wall.

Remi didn’t want to hurt Parker at all, but he still squeezed her wrist tightly while he tried to get her attention saying, “Parker? Hey, can you hear me Parker?”

He only reply was to grunt and try to twist out of his hold. She was actually stronger than he had anticipated so he grabbed her other hand and wrenched it above her head as well. Once he had both of her wrists secured over her head, he used his right foot to kick her legs apart. The last thing he needed was for her to try to incapacitate him by ramming her knee into a very vulnerable and sensitive part of his body. She seethed and actually did try to land a hard blow to exactly where he had predicted, so he slammed his left hip against her right leg to keep Parker from making a second attempt.

“Enough!” He ordered with a quiet growl as he tightened his already painful grip on Parker’s wrist. “Parker! Enough! You have to stop before someone gets hurt… well gets hurt worse.”

After he squeezed her wrist, he noticed some recognition returning to her eyes. He knew she was going to be bruised in the morning, but he couldn’t think of anything else to do right now. As he tightened his hold on her wrists even further, Parker’s eyes started to focus even more.

She then whispered out a quiet, “Ow.”

“There we are. Come on now Cub, just put down the bottle.”

“Ow… ow… it… it hurts,” she complained softly without making any attempts to move.

“Come on Sweetheart, we’ve just got to…” Remi explained as he guided her right hand down by her side.

He tapped her hand lightly against the wall hoping that she would comply with his wishes. Her only response was a tearful, “It hurts.”

“I know, but I need you to ”

Remi had started to unwrap her fingers from around the bottle’s neck when someone used their full body weight to tackle the bear away from the human. Luckily Remi had released his hold of both of Parker’s wrists or else he would have pulled her down to the ground when he stumbled away from her. Parker remained stock still in her spot while Remi regained his footing.

“Parker? Hey… hey… are you alright?” Otto asked as he placed his hands on both of Parker’s cheeks. Almost immediately he saw the small river of blood that had begun to flow down her cheek. Almost as quickly he found the piece of glass that had imbedded itself just above her eyebrow which was the origin of all of the blood. “Oh no, Parker. Kiddo… what did he do to you?”

Parker’s bottom lip started to tremble as she replied a noncommittal, “Hurts.”

As soon as the words left her mouth, Park completely lost her resolve. Forgetting that the man in front of her was one of the primary reasons she didn’t’ want to cry in front of anyone, she let out a loud, gut wrenching sob. She finally released her hold on the bottle and she let Otto claim the majority of her weight while she continued to cry.

“Here Squire let me help ” Remi started as he moved his arms as if he was going to help Otto by claiming some of Parker’s weight.

Otto didn’t smack Remi’s hands away like he wanted to, but he did raise one of his arms to block Remi from being able to touch the other Squire as he replied, “I think you’ve done enough.”

Remi looked shocked for a second before he threw his hands up in defeat and said, “You know what? Whatever… I really don’t care.”

With that said he turned on his heel and stomped away to return to the task that had originally brought him out into the alley.

Otto didn’t pay Remi any mind and kept his attention focused on Parker. She hadn’t been able to say anything to him beyond ‘hurts’ and ‘ow’ because he sobs had become so profound. She also appeared to be losing her ability to coordinate her limbs, so Otto scooped her up into his arms to carry her back to the bar to find someone to tend to the wound above her eye.

Aimée had been keeping an eye on the door Otto had exited through when she had finally convinced him that someone should check on Parker. Much to her surprise Remi was the first person to re-enter the building from the alleyway. She hadn’t noticed that he had gone outside and reasoned that he must have done so when she was practically begging and pleading with Otto to at least try to get an eye on Parker to make sure that she was safe. Both of them had concurred that they should give Parker some time to cool down before they tried to discuss this latest tragedy with her, but Aimée also pointed out that if the young Squire was that emotionally distressed that it would leave her open to an attack. That reasoning had finally piqued Otto’s sense of self-preservation and he had agreed to watch Parker covertly to make sure no one did her any harm, but he only did so to keep himself on the bear’s good side.

About a full minute after Remi had entered through the door, Otto emerged with a sobbing Parker cradled against his chest like a small child in his arms. Aimée rushed to his side as fast as her feet could take her. In all honesty she would have gladly broken the rules and would have teleported to his side in front of the general public in the dining room. Thankfully she remembered that she couldn’t teleport right now because she was pregnant, which was the only way she kept herself out of a compromising position.

“What happened?” She worriedly questioned once she was by Otto’s side.

He continued moving towards the kitchen in the hopes to keep from drawing attention to them as he answered, “I’m not entirely sure. When I got out there it looked like she was trying to fight off one of the bears. As soon as he was gone I noticed the blood and she broke down into a sobbing mess before I could question her.”

“Fight off…? You don’t mean Remi, do you?”

Otto shrugged as best as he could with Parker in his arms answering, “Is that who came in before us? Sorry I have a hard time telling your brothers apart.”

By this time they had made it into the kitchen. Staff at Sanctuary, whether they knew the truth of the world of Were-Hunters and Dark-Hunters or not, had grown desensitized to strange happenings at the bar, so no one paid the newcomers any heed and continued about their business as usual.

Aimée grabbed one of Otto’s forearms to get his attention as she said, “There’s no way that Remi would hurt her.”

“I’m sure that you believe that, but all I know is that she told him that he was hurting her and now she has blood running down the side of her face. It doesn’t take a huge leap to come to that conclusion.”

“No, he wouldn’t. They’re friends,” she stated matter-of-factly to herself. She then turned her eyes up to look at Parker, who was still being held in Otto’s protective embrace. Her sobs had completely sub-sided, but her tears still continued to flow. More importantly the blood running down her temple continued to do so at an alarming rate. It was then that Aimée noticed that Parker had a fairly sizeable piece of glass imbedded in her brow.

Aimée started to reach out to touch it, but stopped herself short of doing that as she sympathetically said, “Oh Cub that must hurt something terrible.” She then turned her eyes up to Otto’s face as he scoffed indignantly. “We need to get her up to Carson, he’ll be able to fix her up.”

“That was my thought too. What floor is his clinic on again?”

“No need,” Aimée replied with a faraway look on her face. Before Otto could ask her to clarify, Aimée nodded towards a door that he heard open and close as she added, “The cavalry is here.”

Otto twisted slightly at the waist to look towards that direction. First he noticed the barreled chest of a muscular male wearing a familiar ‘Sanctuary Security’ t-shirt. He then let his eyes travel up to the man’s face. Seeing what he thought was the face of the man he wrongfully assumed had hurt Parker, Otto squeezed Parker tightly and took a step away from both of the bears saying, “Oh, hell no.”

“Otto that isn’t Remi, it’s our brother Dev. I swear he would never do anything to hurt Parker,” Aimée explained in a desperate tone.

Otto eyed them both wearily then said, “She talked about you. Why don’t you prove you’re you by showing me whatever makes you unique from your brothers?”

Dev had rushed to the kitchen because Aimée had contacted him telepathically to tell him Parker desperately needed his help. Now he was being confronted by a Squire that looked like he was holding Dev’s friend somewhat defensively in his arms. Dev wanted to play with the human and act like he had no idea to what the Squire referred, but he knew that could potentially hurt Parker, so he didn’t even try. Instead he turned to one side and pulled up his t-shirt’s sleeve to reveal his double bow and arrow tattoo.

All of the tension left Otto’s body as he turned to hand Parker over to Dev. She immediately tried to snuggle into the bear’s chest, but he stopped her because that meant that she would have pressed the glass shard even further into her flesh. Not to mention the damage it would have done when it punctured his flesh as well.

“Oh Cub,” he commented forlornly just before they both disappeared.

Otto stiffened in his place as he looked around the room nervously. Aimée wrapped her arm around one of his and tugged him gently towards the general vicinity of Peltier House.

Once Otto’s feet started moving, Aimée explained, “It was the fastest way to get her to Carson. Now come on, I’ll take you up to her.”

                                                **************************

Carson looked up from the paperwork he was looking over on his desk when he felt Dev enter the room. Although it wasn’t unusual for Were-Hunters to literally pop into his office unannounced, he still gave Dev a wide-eyed, surprised look at seeing him with a human in his arms. Dev remained silent and moved towards the door that led to the exam room area with Parker still gently cushioned in his arms.

Dev was gently placing the now unconscious Squire down on the stainless steel exam table when Carson finally arrived at the door. He watched the bear for a couple of seconds and when he was convinced that the other man had everything under control, the doctor moved swiftly to put on a pair of latex gloves.

Dev was repositioning Parker’s head so that her hair was out of the way as Carson approached him saying, “Dare I ask how this happened?”

“You can ask all you want, but the only answer I’ll be able to give you is ‘I have no idea’.”

Since that was practically a stock answer for most situations when people found themselves under his care, Carson just shrugged then continued on with his examination. He gently moved Parker’s head from side to side to make sure that she didn’t have any other significant cuts, beyond the obvious, that he would have to tend to once he got started.

“How long has she been out cold,” Carson asked as he started collecting items from his cupboard.

“Just before I teleported her here. She was pretty distraught, so I think she tired herself out from crying,” Dev answered from his place by Parker’s head. “Did you want me to go get Maggie to help you?”

The doctor shook his head, placing his tools on the steel bed by Parker’s right cheek. “It shouldn’t take me too long to stitch her up.” He caught the brief look of uncertainty on Dev’s face so he added, “It’s a clean cut and the glass will be easy to remove. I know there’s a lot of blood, but that’s common for head wounds. It honestly does look worse that it is Dev.”

The bear let out a sigh and slumped slightly in his spot. “Thanks Carson. Would you mind if I stayed in here while you work on her? Ever since her mom’s last stay in the hospital, Parker has sort of inherited a phobia and all…”

“Say no more,” Carson replied. “If you being here might make my life easier, I won’t kick you out. Just…”

“Don’t get in your way,” Dev finished for him as he pulled up a chair to sit by Parker’s head.

Carson first cleaned up the majority of the blood on Parker’s face before he carefully extracted the sizeable piece of glass from her flesh. Without being asked Dev pressed a large wad of gauze against the now revealed cut. Carson flashed him a grateful smile before exchanging his Kelly Forceps and tweezers for a plastic bottle of water that he used to irrigate the wound.

As he cleaned away the fresh blood so that he could check out the cut to ensure there were no pieces of glass left behind. The doctor took in a loud breath before commenting, “I wonder what the other guy looks like if she took a bottle to the head and didn’t fall down in her place.”

“Not a scratch on him that I could see,” a voice answered from behind him.

Carson’s hands paused while he looked over his shoulder. He recognized the male in the doorway to be a Squire, so he returned to stitching the wound without further commentary. He did, however, give Dev a look to have him question the other man further. Carson would have done it himself, but he wanted to keep his focus on his patient and doing the best job that he could while stitching her up. He hadn’t had a chance to get to know the young Squire well, but since she was female he wanted to make sure that he kept the scarring on her face to a minimum just in case she was vane enough to care once she woke up.

“So you saw the guy that did this to her and just let him go? Or did you dust him before you brought her back inside?” Dev finally asked.

“I would have loved to…” Otto started to reply only to have Aimée push him aside so that she could step inside of the room.

“Don’t start with that again Otto. Until we can ask either of them about what happened, it would be best if we didn’t start jumping to conclusions,” the bearswan stated in a tone that left no room for argument. “How is she doing Carson?”

The doctor dabbed the stitches and cleaned around them as he replied, “It’s not as bad as it looked. Just under a dozen stitches and she’s all patched up. After I give her a tetanus shot, one of you can take her to her room to sleep it all off. After a good night’s… well day’s sleep, Parker should be absolutely fine.”

Aimée walked over to Parker’s side and pet the side of her head. Dev caught the sad look in his sister’s eyes so he place a comforting hand over hers. They both had adopted Parker as a little sister long before she moved to the United Kingdom and they continued to care for her as the same today. They had had enough family tragedies that even the smallest incidences seemed to hit them hard. They both knew that Parker was strong and that she would be able to live through this, but that didn’t stop them from worrying about and wanting to baby her.

Otto watched the interaction between the two bears and he started to actually feel uncomfortable. The love that the Were-Hunters felt for the human was more than evident on their faces, so he started to feel like he was intruding on a private moment and like he truly didn’t belong there. He initially justified his presence there as him watching out for Parker’s best interests and making sure no one else hurt a fellow Squire. Now he could see that she was in the hands of people who truly did care about her, so why was he still standing there? He and Parker weren’t friends, he had been the one to ensure that that was a crystal clear fact. They weren’t really colleagues. Again he was the one that always made sure that Parker felt inferior to him in every way.

“Why?” He quietly asked himself out loud.

Aimée held Otto’s arm in a soft grip as she slowly turned him to one side and explained, “I know you helped her tonight, but I’ve never heard her talk about you, so I don’t know how comfortable she would be with you seeing her like that.”

Otto frowned at the bear’s run-on sentence before he stole a glance over his shoulder. The doctor was turning Parker over onto her side so that he could pull her sweater up to reach the waist of her tights to pull them down. He kept tugging on the fabric until Parker’s left…

“Oh!” Otto exclaimed as he whipped his head back to where Aimée had pointed it.

His embarrassment only eased up when he heard Carson chuckle and announce, “Alright you three, I’m done giving Parker her shot.” Once they had all turned around he gave each of them a questioning look and said, “She should sleep through the rest of the night and most of the morning. She’ll probably be sore once she wakes up, so here are some pain killers to make things easier for her.” He pointed the bottle towards each of them then asked, “So? Who do I give these to?”

Otto made a move to step forward, but Dev beat him to the punch. He picked Parker up off the table then put his hand out for the bottle saying, “I’ll take her to her room. Does someone have to stay with her ‘til she wakes up or do we just have to check in on her from time to time?”

“Someone with her until she’s alert would be the ideal, but frequent check could work too, I guess.”

Aimée shook her head replying, “Someone will be with her at all times until she wakes up. There’s enough of us to do it in shifts, no problem.”

Dev caught her eye and nodded to show he understood exactly what she was saying. “I’ll take first watch then.”

Before he could disappear with the Squire, Aimée held his arm so that she could look Parker over one more time. She pet the length of her face then kissed one of her hands. Dev stood still and just watched his sister which earned him a warm smile and a kiss on the cheek from Aimée.

“While you get her settled, I’ll try to work on a schedule of people to watch over her.”

“Alright Sis, just send my relief up at shift change.”

After Dev had disappeared with Parker once again, Otto quietly said to Aimée, “Here’s my card. Let me know if any of us Squires can be of any help.”

Aimée stared at the card in her hand, but she couldn’t find the words to reply. If Otto was the type of person who would squirm during an uncomfortable silence, he would have been nearly twitching by now. But Otto never let anyone see any hint of vulnerability, so instead he just shrugged and then turned to walk away.

Once he was at the door, Otto stopped but didn’t turn his body at all as he announced, “She’s one of us and we take care of our own.”

With that he continued out of the room. Aimée let out the breath she hadn’t realized she was holding and jumped when she heard Carson let out a tension easing laugh.

“Isn’t he Mr. Intense?” Carson asked through his chuckling.

Aimée gave him a hesitant smile and replied with her own question of, “If she’s a Squire, do you think we should call Acheron about this?”

“Even though she IS a Squire,” Carson replied with an extra emphasis on Aimée’s misspoken title for the human. “I think we should hold off getting any of the Squires or Dark Hunters involved until we know exactly what happened tonight.”

“Right,” Aimée answered sounding very distracted. “You’re totally right. So it’s up to just us to watch over our Cub.”

                                                ************************************

Her sleep had been deep and restful, but her waking up was terribly uncomfortable. She rolled onto her back and suddenly her eyes snapped open as she let out a silent scream of protest. Parker tried to scramble back onto her side to ease the throbbing in her buttocks, but she was still feeling so sleep deprived that she couldn’t force her body to maneuver it.

“Here, let me help you,” a kind, quiet voice offered as they eased her onto her side.

Parker kept her eyes squeezed closed tightly until she was safely back onto her left side. It took a couple of breaths for the throbbing to subside when she felt like she wasn’t going to scream out in pain, she eased one and then her other eye open.

It took a couple of seconds before her eyes were able to focus on her ‘savior’. When his face finally did come into view, she gave him a lazy smile as she hoarsely whispered, “Remi?”

“Sorry Cub, but you’re stuck with me.”

Her smile turned into a cheeky grin as she replied, “It’s good to see you Devereaux. So can you tell me about the pain in my ass?” Dev’s smile faltered slightly which caused Parker to cough out a laugh. “I mean the literal pinching and throbbing pain I felt when I tried to lay down on my back. I wasn’t trying to get all metaphorical on you.”

“Good because if you keep using those fancy, big, schooling words I might not be able to keep up with you, Cub.”

Those words had the desired effect on Parker and she fell into a fit of quiet giggles. Dev relaxed in his seat and couldn’t help but to smile at the bright look on Parker’s face. She had barely moved during her sleep and hadn’t uttered a single sound which had prompted Aimée, Dev and Talon to place a mirror under her nose to make sure that she was still breathing more than once. (The Peltiers had decided not to tell anyone in the Dark-Hunter circle about Parker until they heard her side of the story. Talon showed up unexpectedly in the afternoon to check on how the meeting went and refused to leave until he got to at least see Parker in the flesh. Aimée then gave him a quick synopsis of the events of the night before and Talon insisted on taking a turn watching over his young Squire friend.)

Suddenly Parker’s features pinched up into a painful scowl. She raised her hand up and inadvertently smacked her fingertips against her stitches. She let out a noise of complaint but looked like she was going to touch them again, so Dev leaned forward and caught her wandering hand in one of his own.

“Carson gave you a tetanus shot after he finished up with your stitches,” Dev explained as he gently rested her arm down against her side.

Parker couldn’t help but to scowl as she digested his words. “He… he… a shot… in my ass? Really?”

Although he tried not to, but Dev chuckled softly as he answered, “Yes he did… in your gluteus maximus. He said that it was the easiest muscle for him to reach without wrecking any of your clothes.”

“Oh… okay… yeah… that makes sense. Now what about these stitches? How did I get these?”

“Well Cub, none of us are entirely sure,” Dev started slowly.

“All we know is that when Otto brought you back inside you had a HUGE chunk of glass imbedded in your head,” Aimée continued from behind where Parker was laying down.

The human once again tried to roll over onto her back so that she could see her friend. Dev quickly stood up to stop her as he commented, “It wasn’t a huge chunk; it was a sizeable shard.”

“Same thing,” Aimée retorted petulantly. She then placed a comforting hand on Parker’s shoulder to quietly say, “Don’t try to move too much, Cub. We know that you must be sore.”

“Thanks Aims, but did you say that Otto brought be back inside? Like OTTO Otto? And he still has both balls intact?” Parker asked as she settled back into place so that she could look at both of the bears comfortably.

Aimée and Dev shared a look that made even Parker feel uneasy. The two bears appeared to have a silent conversation and then they seemed to have some to some sort of a resolution.

Aimée picked up one of Parker’s hands and held it in both of hers as she explained, “Yes… on all counts Cub. When he brought you in, you had the cut on your brow and you were sobbing something fierce.”

“Okay,” Parker replied with her scowl somehow deepening. “Are you sure he wasn’t the cause of both?”

The bears shared a surprised look and this time it was Dev that replied, “Actually we really aren’t sure about what happened at all. The Squire seemed to think that Remi had something to do with hurting you. We wanted to ask you about it, but you were too distraught to speak and then you passed out on me.”

Tears pooled in Parker’s eyes while she listened to Dev and the night’s events started to replay themselves in her mind. She squeezed her eyes closed and pulled her knees up to her chest to hide her face into them. Pulling her knees up to her face seemed like the best way to hide from her friends, but that action actually pulled on her glute muscles uncomfortably, so she quickly abandoned that course of action.

As Parker let her legs fall back down, Aimée stepped forward with something in each hand as she explained, “You haven’t had any pain meds Cub, so once you eat this cracker and cheese you can have something for the pain. That should make moving around a lot more comfortable.”

Parker immediately started to nibble on the cracker and cheese before she replied, “Sorry that I’m being such a wuss, but for some reason I’ve never reacted well when I’ve had to have a tetanus shot.”

“It’s alright Sweetie, Dev and I are in no rush,” Aimée offered trying to sound supportive and helpful.

Parker tried not to choke as a sob creeped into her throat. She managed to swallow it down along with her food. As soon as her mouth was empty, Aimée presented her with a glass of water and a small light pink colored pill. Parker took both from her and swallowed them down greedily. After the glass was empty, Aimée took it from her and placed it on Parker’s side table.

Aimée pulled up a chair to sit beside her brother. The two of them sat silently as they watched Parker move some of her pillows around as she tried to make herself comfortable on her bed. Or so they thought. In reality Parker was trying to do whatever she could to delay the conversation that she knew was to come. Because of her own stupidity and recklessness, she hadn’t had a chance to figure out how she was going to explain her new situation to Aimée and Dev.

“It’ll be fine Cub, just take your time,” Aimée offered in a soft, comforting voice.

Parker centered herself the best that she could by taking in a slow deep breath before she attempted to make eye contact with either of her friends. When her eyes locked with Aimée’s she almost lost her nerve, but she forced herself not to chicken out.

“So I guess you guys heard the news about me and my… I mean not my… umm… about what happened,” Parker awkwardly explained.

The bears shared a look and shook their heads as Dev answered, “Actually no, we haven’t heard anything about the meeting.”

“Really? I was sure that Otto would have jumped at the chance to tell everyone about how I got humiliated.”

“Oh Cub, no he seemed to be more worried about you being hurt than anything else,” Aimée answered. “He actually became really protective of you when he brought you inside.”

“Protective?” Parker hid a derisive laugh very poorly before she added, “Aims are you sure you aren’t the one who had Carson remove a huge chunk of glass from your head last night?”

Aimée’s eyes narrowed as she inquired, “Parker? Is Otto the ‘problem’ you wanted to leave to discuss at a later date?”

The Squire’s cheeks turned a dark shade of red as she answered, “Yeah he sort of is, but… umm…”

“But it can still wait,” Dev cut in mercifully. “Personally I’m more interested in hearing about what happened last night.”

Parker gave him a grateful smile. “Okay. So… where to start? Well I got to meet the Hunter I was supposed to work for, but not long after he showed up, Artemis did too. She said that there was some sort of mix up and that I was supposed to be a boy and… well… I’m so not… so… she was ‘kind’ enough to remind us of Acheron’s number one rule for Squires; we can’t work for someone who we might become attracted to, so that meant that I can’t Squire for Nick. I mean I know he’s kind of cute, but he is so not my type. Plus he didn’t seem to be interested in me… well he was… I mean… but not like that… not like… err… Anyways, Artemis said that it didn’t matter. Rules are rules, so I can’t be his Squire. After I told her she was right, I went outside to think because I didn’t want anyone to see me cry.”

“Oh Cub,” Aimée replied as she brushed a tear off of Parker’s cheek. “I’m so sorry to hear that happened.”

“Although I do agree that it sucks, especially after you were so excited about getting this job, you may have dodged a bullet on this one. It sounds like he was kind to you, but Nick… he… he can be pretty nasty sometimes. I honestly don’t think anyone would survive as his Squire,” Dev commented in an uncharacteristically somber tone.

“He’s right Parker. I really want you to have your dream job, but I’m pretty sure this one would have turned into a nightmare eventually.”

Parker stared at both of them for a breath then asked, “Is it because of the stuff between him and Ash?”

“Partially,” Aimée answered. “But mostly it all started when he lost his _maman_. Cherise… she was…”

“Something special,” Parker finished for her. Aimée gaped at her in surprise causing Parker to chuckle. “Sorry a lot of the regulars are super chatty. They’ve told me a lot of stories about her and just from the way they tell those stories… well, it just sounds like she was pretty extraordinary.”

“That she was. Now that we’ve established that, how about we get back to you filling us in on how you ended up needing stitches when you were just going outside to think?” Dev asked without a hint of teasing in his tone.

Parker stared at him for a moment, but when he didn’t attempt to crack a smile at all, she instead tried to explain what happened. “Right, the glass in my head. Well I went out into the alley and then I tripped over a box. It had a bunch of bottles in it and they fell out. I felt bad about making a mess so I tried putting them back. I don’t know exactly how but since I’m such a total klutz I couldn’t even do that right, so I… umm… well… I got frustrated and then… uhh… then everything… all of it… having to pack again, having to leave again, seeing Otto’s stupid face… all of it hit me at once and I just got so mad… and destructive. Since the bottles were already in my hand they seemed like as good a target as any for my anger. I don’t even really remember what happened next. I guess it’s what people call a blind rage, but then I was suddenly pinned against the wall and Remi was telling me I had to stop hurting myself or something like that and then… well I woke up with a pain in my ass… literal Aims, not Dev. He’s been a sweetheart.”

“Cub,” Aimée whispered forlornly as she leaned forward and brushed Parker’s hair back and out of her face. “What do you mean you have to leave again?”

Parker’s lip started to tremble as fresh tears gathered in her eyes. Her breathing started to come in as shallow gasps, as she tried to answer, “I… I promised him. I told him that… that… that I wouldn’t… wouldn’t… that I…” She sobbed in a breath then continued through her tears. “If I have no Hunter to Squire for then it means that I don’t have a job… so… so… I have to leave because that’s what I promised.” She could tell that the two of them didn’t seem to fully understand what she was saying, so Parker added a very soft, almost inaudible, “My dad. It’s what my dad made me promise him one of the last times we saw each other.”

“Do you mean that thing in his will about you not coming back to New Orleans unless it was to be housed with a hunter?” Aimée asked.

Parker nodded softly then answered, “That’s exactly it. I know it might sound silly and trivial to some people, but I gave him my word and I don’t go back on my word.”

“Of course not Cub,” Aimée agreed instantly. “Why don’t you try to get a bit more rest and once you’re feeling up to it come down and have something to eat, okay? We’ll try to figure out something from there.”

“Okay… yeah… that sounds good. But before you go…” Aimée and Dev paused where they were now standing beside her bed. “I just wanted to make sure you guys heard me. I was stupid and hurt myself. Remi had absolutely nothing to do with it.”

Aimée leaned down and kissed Parker’s forehead before she replied, “We heard you loud and clear Cub.”

                                                *************************************

Parker once again fell into a deep, dreamless sleep, however this time she woke up feeling not only rested, but she was also relatively pain free. She wasn’t feeling particularly hungry, which she found odd because she had slept most of the day and probably should have been feeling more side effects of that, but she wasn’t going to dwell on that now. First she wanted to freshen up so that she could find Remi and try to apologize to him. Since she was so anxious to find him and clear the air, she was now actually feeling grateful for her lack of appetite because if she had nothing in her stomach then she was hoping that meant she wouldn’t be vomiting anytime soon.

After her shower, Parker threw on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. One of the first things she noticed when she returned to her room was that everything had been cleaned up and put back where it belonged. Well not in their exact spots, but Parker was sure that Aimée and her helpers had done the best they could considering the incredible job she had done of destroying her room and her non-existent organizational scheme. Even though everything hadn’t been put back how she had unpacked them, Parker still managed to put an outfit together quickly as she reminded herself to think of a way to thank Aimée and everyone else for their help.

As she made her way through the house on her way to the bar she asked everyone she met where she could find Remi. Most people gave her a strange look and told her they weren’t his keeper. Well the polite people said that, others were a bit more colorful in their descriptions of how strange they thoughts she was for making such an inquiry. Normally that would have given Parker a moment of pause, but for now she remained too task-driven to pretend that she cared that anyone found her question odd.

In the end she found him on her own in a back room moving some of their sound equipment. She figured that meant that the Howlers would be playing a gig tonight. She smiled sadly to herself that at least she would get to see them play before she had to leave.

Parker let out a sigh at the thought before she called out, “Remi? Do you have a second?”

He briefly paused to look at her then shook his head replying, “Sorry kid, after I’m done in here I have a huge to do list to get through.”

She frowned at the new moniker he had never used for her before, but she just ignored that thought. She was here for a reason and she wasn’t going to be deterred. “It’ll honestly be less than a minute. I… I could help you if you wanted… that should make your list shorter… I mean if I helped it would.”

“Nope, you’re supposed to be resting,” he practically snapped without pausing his movements or looking over at her.

“Remi? Please?” She tried again as she tried to follow his movements.

Since it was day time she knew that he wouldn’t be able to teleport to move the equipment to the stage. She tried to shadow his movements, but he still was moving too fast for her to keep up. Since he wasn’t even acknowledging her anymore when she called out his name she decided to try a different approach. She had helped out as a quasi-Roadie at the pub she had worked at in England, so she knew that she would be able to carry a speaker or an amp no problem. Although it was awkward, especially since the injection site in her rear-end was still tender and sore, she managed to pick up one of the amps and slowly followed Remi to the backstage area.

Remi didn’t notice Parker until he turned around to retrieve his next load of equipment. As he snatched the amp out of the human’s hands he growled out, “What do you think you are doing? I told you I don’t want your help! My sister ”

As soon as her hands were empty, Parker grabbed Remi by both of his cheeks to pull him down for a kiss. Miraculously he didn’t catch either of their feet when he practically dropped the amp to the floor in surprise.

Once she broke the embrace he glared at her and demanded, “What the hell was that?!”

Parker wanted to be cheeky and facetious and reply ‘a kiss’ but he looked genuinely angry so she decided not to play around. Instead she took a step back and meekly replied, “You wouldn’t stop to talk so… well I… I wanted to thank you.”

“Thank me?” He asked as he stalked towards her and backed her up against a wall. “And why would you want to thank me?”

“Be… because you stopped me. If… if you hadn’t… well… with my luck I probably would have gotten glass in my eye and… y’know gone blind or something. I… umm… I know Otto accused you of… anyway, I’ve told Aimée and Dev that he was totally wrong and that… well that he had no idea what he was talking about, so I umm… I wanted to find you and tell you that I straightened them out and to thank you for helping me.”

He leaned down so that their noses were almost touching and quietly said, “And who gave you permission to kiss me Human?”

“I… umm… I wasn’t… I mean, I didn’t… I just… I mean you wouldn’t… wouldn’t stop moving, so it… I… I… I’m sorry.”

“Why are you sorry? Because you stole a kiss?” He questioned in the same low tone as he combed his fingers through her hair.

“No, I didn’t… I’m… I’m not sorry about the kiss, I’m sorry that I… that it pissed you off. That so wasn’t my intention.”

“I’m not mad at you Cub, I’m just…” He paused there and made painfully direct eye contact with Parker.

She wasn’t sure what was going on in his head, so she stayed as still as possible to keep from annoying him any further. The hand that had been running through her hair stopped and he fisted a painful chunk of it. Parker’s eyes widened in fear and surprise, but before she could open her mouth to speak, Remi’s was covering it with a surprisingly gentle kiss. His hand loosened its grip but remained angled in her long mane while his other hand guided her right leg up to his hip. Parker immediately took the hint and wrapped her arms around his neck so that he could more easily encircle his waist with her legs. As soon as the height difference disappeared, Remi deepened the kiss and practically ravished Parker’s mouth with every part of his own. His kiss was so exquisite and like none that she had ever felt before, so she couldn’t help but to moan into his mouth.

Remi chuckled at her response and backed out of the embrace to catch his breath. Parker’s hold around his neck loosened slightly so that it was easier for Remi to move. They shared a lazy smile and seemed content to remain how they were with Parker wrapped protectively in his arms.

As they both panted in shallow breaths, they heard someone calling out, “Remi? Remi? Hey man, are you back here?”

Parker started to drop her legs from his waist, but Remi pressed her into him to keep her close to his flesh. He growled out a noise and then within a blink of an eye they were up in Parker’s room. This time he let Parker detach herself, but he quickly caught her by the elbows when it looked like she was going to fall over.

“Hey… are you okay Parker?” He asked as he gently led her over to her bed.

She nodded and sat down replying, “Yeah… sorry… just got a total head rush there. Sorry.”

“It’s fine,” he answered as he started to pet her hair again.

Parker tugged on his arm and guided him to sit down beside her on her bed. She still had a bright smile on her face as she said, “So…? About downstairs…?”

She was abruptly cut off by the sound of someone knocking on her door. They both scowled and Parker contemplated not answering when she heard another authoritative knock followed by a familiar voice calling out, “Parker? Are you awake?”

Parker stared at Remi like a deer caught in headlights. She didn’t know what she should do. Something was happening between her and Remi and she really wanted to talk to him about it. But in the next breath she knew that she shouldn’t ignore the man that was now knocking at her door.

Seeing the dilemma in her eyes, Remi pecked her lips then whispered, “We will talk soon.”

Parker blinked then suddenly Remi was nowhere to be seen. She remained seated on her bed while she caught her breath and tried to come to terms with what had just happened. Her friendship with Remi was so new that she was stunned at the fact that she might have feelings for him or that he might even have feelings for her.

But she pushed those thought aside for now. She quickly checked her reflection to make sure that she still looked presentable. Her lips were a dark shade of pink and looked slightly puffy, but she didn’t think it was glaringly obvious that she had just been making out with a bear.

She pressed her fingertips to her still tingling lips then whispered, “Really? Remi?”

To force herself from letting her mind wander, Parker shook her head and straightened her top as she walked to her door. She wasn’t sure what to expect from her visitor, so she took a deep breath and braced herself for the worse as she opened the door.

Her visitor had a warm smile on his unnaturally handsome face as he asked, “I’m sorry, but Aimée said you should have been awake by now and that I wouldn’t be disturbing you. I didn’t…?”

“Oh no! Ash, you didn’t wake me at all,” Parker quickly replied. “Umm… won’t you come in?”

 

 

 


	7. Chapter 6

Parker pulled up a chair for Ash to sit down while she found a seat on her bed. She couldn't help but to smile to herself because now they were actually close to being eye level, which was usually a difficult feat for her since Acheron was nearly seven feet tall and she was only five and a half feet tall. He mirrored her smile and she almost asked if he had read her thoughts, but she held her tongue. Since he was practically her boss' boss, she didn't think that it would be appropriate to question him and she didn't feel comfortable enough around him to tease.

Acheron's swirling silver eyes twinkled with amusement as he watched Parker's smile start to fade into a worried look. He let out a soft chuckle as he said, "Parker, don't look so worried. I just wanted to stop by and check in on you. Last I heard you were out cold after your meeting with Nick ended badly."

Parker frowned at that description of the events of the night before and sounded more accusatory than she meant to when she asked, "Who told you that?"

"Talon. But before you call him to give him shit about his version of events, I know Nick didn't do this to you." He then leaned forward to gently touched her stitches. Parker winced ever so slightly so Acheron kindly offered, "I could heal that for you if you'd like."

Parker shook her head answering, "That's really nice of you to offer, but I think I need to keep this." Ash tried to keep a look of confusion off his face, but he couldn't quite manage it. The fact that she could perplex the oldest being she knew so easily amused Parker so much that she was giggling when she clarified, "I'm not wearing it as like some macho badge of honor or anything Acheron. I just… well… I keep trying to remind myself not to let my emotions get the best of me, so what better reminder is there not to be a bone-head than the big nasty scar I got from the last time I let myself get lost in my rage?"

"That sounds very wise, but I think for me to fully understand your rationale, I should probably ask how exactly you got hurt and ended up with stitches."

"You mean you don't… but I thought that you just… then again… and Talon doesn't know what happened either…" Ash cleared his throat loudly to get Parker to refocus her thoughts from her rambling and back to their conversation. "Sorry… sorry. I swear I'm trying to work on not doing that anymore."

"It's fine Parker. Don't worry about it. Now you were trying to say?"

"Thanks. So the cut… well after I was told that I couldn't Squire for Nick, I sort of… kind of… lost it. Not because of Nick or y'know anything like that, but without a Squire job here then I have to leave." She paused there then realized Acheron may not understand to what she was referring. "Oh, it's not like anyone said I have to get out of town or anything, it's just that I umm… I made this promise to my dad and…"

"It's alright Parker, I know all about that. So you got frustrated that you thought that you'd have to move again and…?"

"And," she picked up the narration with a relieved sigh. "And I decided that throwing bottles against a wall would be a good stress reliever. As you can see, it wasn't one of my brighter ideas. Thank the gods that Remi stopped me before I blinded myself or worse."

"Remi? But I was told that Otto was the one who brought you into the bears to be patched up."

Parker let out a loud, unimpressed scoff before she replied, "Trust that dumbass Otto to get it all wrong." She threw her hands over her mouth and then said, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have spoken about another Squire like that. I didn't mean to be disrespectful, honestly I didn't."

Ash let out a soft laugh at her over-reaction to her own words. "Parker don't worry about it. I've told you before that you can be totally candid with me. Plus, I know the history between yourself and Otto isn't the best, so I won't hold it against you if you need to get a little colorful with your language when you vent, alright?"

"Okay. Thanks Ash, I appreciate it. So back to the story. Otto came out and totally misinterpreted what he saw. He accused Remi of doing this, but don't worry I've made sure to clear the air with Remi. Which brings me here to you knocking on my door."

Acheron had an odd smirk on his face as he replied, "You most certainly did… ahem… clear the air with him."

Parker's cheeks turned a dark shade of red at the tone of Acheron's voice. She had heard rumors about his powers and how they differed from other Dark Hunters, but she had never had any of those suspicions confirmed. Now she was starting to wonder if some of what she had heard wasn't actually the truth.

Taking a chance that she never thought that she would, Parker hesitantly asked, "Ash? Are…? Are you…? Umm… Are you actually like…? Umm… omniscient?"

Ash laughed at how meek she was now being then answered, "Not all of the time, but yes I know about what I interrupted. Before you get worried, no I won't be telling anyone about it. That's between you two and I won't interfere… unless you need or want me to, okay?"

"Okay…" She replied with her hands still covering her cheeks. "Thanks again Ash. It's just that the thing between him and I… it's… umm…"

"New and complicated. Believe me, if anyone can understand being in a complicated relationship, I can so I won't judge. And that isn't why I'm here. I just wanted to stop by to make sure that you were alright because Talon seemed pretty worried about you. I can see now that you're doing better than fine, so I don't have to worry about going to the Squire's Council to have them look into what happened."

Parker groaned out loud and hid her face in her hands. "Oh gods! I hadn't even thought of that." Her head snapped up and she made direct eye contact with Ash as she practically begged, "You won't tell them about this, will you? Aimée said that someone had cleaned up all of the glass already so everything is fine from her perspective. You won't have to tell them about how reckless and immature I was, will you?"

"No Parker, I don't," Acheron replied in a calm, placating tone. He took one of Parker's hands into both of his as he added. "As I said, I can see you are alright and that really is the most important thing to me."

"Oh… okay," Parker answered as she relaxed in her spot.

"So that brings me to the other reason I wanted to talk with you." Parker frowned at the vagueness of his statement, but she didn't get a chance to voice her confusion. "I know that your dad was worried about you coming back here, even if it was for work, and that he made you promise not to return unless you were working for a Hunter. It sounds like most of your frustration last night came from thinking that if you weren't working for Nick that you would have to move back to England in order to keep from going back on your word to Jimmy. But what if I told you that you could stay without breaking your promise to him?"

"I'd say if it sounds too good to be true…" She started to reply automatically. Parker quickly slapped her hands over her mouth and said through her fingers, "Oh gods! I'm sorry!" She lowered her hands then added, "I meant to say 'and how would that be Acheron?' I swear that's what I meant to say."

Ash's eyes twinkled with humor as he once again laughed at Parker's embarrassed state. "Parker you're wise to be suspicious of anyone who seems to be promising you everything you want because you're right, there usually is a catch. But I can assure you that this offer is completely legitimate."

"Thanks Ash. You're too nice. So what is it that you propose?"

"Well as you know we've lost a few Dark-Hunters from our service here in New Orleans, but that doesn't mean that our workload has lessened at all. You might be asking yourself what that has to do with you, but I assure you that it will make sense in just a moment."

Parker's blush returned with a vengeance because she had silently asked herself that exact question. She once again started to wonder if Ash was a mind-reader, but stopped herself in case he was. She then tried to clear her mind and keep it blank, but that proved to be more difficult than she had predicted. Have you ever noticed that the more you try not to think about something, the more your mind wanders back to that exact topic? That was what Parker was being plagued with while she reminded herself again to focus on what Acheron was saying to her.

"So we've been able to find a doll maker, but trying to find someone that can forge good quality blades in a variety of sizes has proved to be more difficult than I had anticipated it would be. Now I read somewhere that you excelled in your metalwork classes, so I thought maybe you could help out at Dream Dolls & Accessories as a Dorean Squire for the time being," he explained not noticing, or more likely not pointing out that he had noticed, that Parker was more than a little distracted by her own thoughts.

"You mean stay here? Helping with odd Squire jobs, but not have my own Hunter?" Parker asked without trying to hide her suspicion. "I don't know Ash, I kind of had my heart set on being a Barnacle… err… I mean, I've always wanted to be…"

"I don't mean for it to be permanent, it can just be a temporary position. You know, until we find a Hunter suitable enough for you to attach yourself to," Acheron cut in sympathetically.

"It wouldn't be…? So I could still…?" Parker tried to ask as her excitement started to mount. "Then I could…? And I would still…? Do you mean…?" She let out a high pitched squeal and started to get off her bed. While Parker was in an awkward half standing position, she pulled her arms back towards her chest as she timidly asked, "Could I…? Umm… What I mean is… Ash? Can I give you a hug?"

He gave her a sly smile and answered, "It depends."

"Depends?" Parker asked with a confused frown on her face.

His smile spread across his face before he replied, "It depends on if you'll accept the position or not."

It took a couple of seconds for Ash's response to register in Parker's mind. The instant that it did, she practically lunged forward to wrap him in a tight, almost uncomfortable hug. Ash chuckled at her enthusiasm as he wrapped his arms around Parker's back while she buried his nose into the side of his neck.

His chuckling turned into full bellied laughter as he replied, "I take it that this is a yes?"

"Yes!" Parker nearly shouted as she pulled back to look at him. "A million times yes! Thank you Ash! Seriously thank you so much! I… I can't… can't even…"

"Shh… it's alright Parker," Acheron replied as he pulled her into a much gentler embrace. "He…they both are so proud of you."

Parker had been able to keep her tears at bay up until she heard that comment from Acheron. Once again she wanted to question him about his abilities, but she remained silent to keep him from hearing the tears that were gathering in her eyes. Ash knew the commentary that was running through her mind, so he was more than willing to give her some time to come to terms with her emotions.

"Thank you so, so much Acheron," she finally whispered into his neck. "Words can't even express…"

"Akri!? AKRI!? You in here?" A sing-songy woman's voice called out as Parker's bedroom door opened. "Aimée said you would be up here."

Parker quickly pulled away from Acheron, but he still kept his hands cupped around her shoulders when he turned to look at the newcomer.

Simi's eyes goggled at the two people that had been embracing. She moved up beside Acheron then asked in a faux-hushed voice, "Akri? Does Akra-Tory know about this? The Simi doesn't like it when Akra-Tory is sad or mad or anything but happy."

"Simi," Acheron replied with a soft laugh. "Yes, Tory knows that I was coming by to talk to Parker. She even told me to do whatever I could to keep her from getting sad."

"She did?" Parker whispered back at Acheron as she brushed away some tears that escaped.

Simi didn't seem to have heard the human speak because she was letting out an excited squeal while she hugged Acheron's neck. "Our Parker-Cub has come home? Oh the Simi is so excited to have her home!" Simi released Ash's neck with a flourish and started looking around the room. Her eyes quickly glazed over the woman sitting on the bed so quickly that Simi didn't even seem to have noticed her. "Where is she Akri? Where's Parker-Cub?"

Ash laughed as he shook his head and pointed at the woman seated on the bed. As Simi's eyes landed on the now timid looking female, they narrowed into a look of suspicion. She stepped around Acheron so that she was standing in front of Parker with her arms crossed over her chest and looking somewhat authoritative.

Parker shrank back slightly when she saw Simi step up in front of her. Just like Acheron, Simi didn't seem to have aged at all since the last time Parker had seen her. Simi was still the Goth fairy creature that Parker would never admit to having tried to emulate when she was a teenager because the human had never been able to pull off the look anywhere close to the way Ash's companion could. The corset top that matched the purple, black and gray plaid skirt looked like a perfect blend of sweet and sexy on Simi while on Parker they always looked like they bordered on being slutty or trashy. The stripped knee high stockings and tall combat boots had worked for Parker on occasion, but finding a suitable place and time where she felt comfortable in them still seemed to evade her.

"Hey Simi, it's really good to see you again," Parker finally squeaked out with an awkward wave.

Simi appeared to have been finished looking the human over when her right hand shot out. Parker flinched, but managed not to move too much when Simi fisted a chunk of her hair. She did flash Acheron a worried look, but he appeared to be trying too hard not to laugh at their exchange to offer her any measure of comfort right then.

"I don't know," Simi commented as she ran her fingers through the human's hair. "Parker-Cub had pretty reddy-blond hair that felt like cotton candy. This hair… it more like Akri's or Simi's, not our Parker's. Plus, she was a cute little girl, in pigtails, all afraid of going away to school. You're a grownup."

"I'm sorry Simi… we humans have a bad habit of aging, especially after nearly ten years," Parker replied, still trying hard not to move too much in her place.

"She's right Sim. Remember she's one hundred percent human," Acheron said trying his best to lend Parker some measure of support. He then gave her a comforting smile then added, "I guess when you spend most of your time with Dark-Hunters, Were-Hunters, gods and goddesses, your interpretation of the normal aging process becomes a little skewed."

Parker gave him an appreciative and sympathetic smile as she said, "I'm sure that it could. And Simi I swear I'm me. Really I am."

Simi stood beside Acheron with her hands on her hips. She had a cheeky smile on her face as she said, "I don't know. How are you going to prove it to me?"

"Oh… well… I… umm… well… oh! Oh! Wait!" Parker jumped up off her bed and rushed over to her vanity. It took her no time to find a small jewelry box. She pulled out its contents and then hurried back to her spot on the bed. "Here! You gave these to me when I was getting ready to Trick or Treat when I was ten. You said that my fairy costume wasn't complete without horns."

Simi took the item Parker was holding and smiled at the memory they evoked. "Your daddy loved your hornays, but your mama got scared that they wouldn't come off. She was afraid she'd hurt the Simi's feelings so she waited until we left to ask Akri if he would be able to get them off."

"Remember how we pretended they were permanent? She was so angry with me that she actually grounded me… and took away half of my candy," Parker reminisced fondly.

"Oh Parker-Cub, I didn't know the Simi got you into big trouble with your mama. If I had of known, I would have shared my candies with you," Simi answered sounding truly contrite. "But these hornays, they're too small for you to wear now."

"Yeah I outgrew them a while ago, but they were a gift from you so I'll cherish them always."

Parker was back at her vanity putting the boxed horns away where she had found them. Simi quickly wrapped her arms around the human in an enthusiastic hug. Parker chuckled as she righted herself in her place with her old friend at her back.

"It is you!" Simi squealed as she turned Parker around. "I should have known it was you! Your eyes are still prettier than the spring sky."

"Thanks Simi," Parker replied as she pulled the other woman into a proper hug. "It's really good to see you again."

"Of course it is. The Simi always knows how to make people smile."

Parker sputtered out a laugh that was almost immediately silenced by the look on Simi's face. "Parker-Cub? What happened to your eye? Did someone hurt you? The Simi will roast them for hurting you! I have my favorite barbeque sauce with me."

"Simi," Acheron said with a hint of warning in his tone.

Simi was the picture of innocence as she turned to him and replied, "What? If someone hurt our Parker-Cub, they deserve to be punished. Unless… was it the Heifer Goddess that did that to her?"

"Simi," Ash tried again.

Parker looked between the two of them as she tried to keep from being the reason the two of them fought. "Simi, I don't think I'd taste very good roasted, no matter how much barbeque sauce you use." Acheron chuckled, but Simi looked confused so Parker quickly clarified her statement by saying, "I did this to me… but not on purpose! I made a bad choice and got hurt. And before you worry, I swear to you that I've learned my lesson."

"Good because we've had to wait too long to get you back home," Simi replied as she pulled Parker into another hug. "Welcome home Parker-Cub."

"Thanks Simi, it's good to be home."

Acheron allowed the two women to embrace for a minute in silence before he cleared his throat to get their attention. "And on that note, we should let Parker get some rest so that she can heal."

"Okay," Simi replied as she reluctantly pulled away from the human. "But now that you're home, we'll have to hang out. Maybe go shopping for sparklies!"

"Sure Simi, that sounds like a plan."

Ash started to usher Simi towards the door as he said, "I'll be in touch soon about the new job. And don't forget that you can call me, anytime, if you need to talk… about anything."

Parker blushed, understanding his unspoken words. "Thanks Ash. I promise I'll call if I need to. See you soon."

After Acheron and Simi had left, Parker went back to her bed and sat down. Everyone kept telling her that she should be resting, but she hadn't been feeling tired up until now. She wasn't sure what had drained the energy out of her, but suddenly Parker found herself curled up on her bed having a restful, dreamless sleep.

When she woke up, Parker checked the time and smiled when she realized that she had woken up in time to help with the dinner time rush. She quickly changed into a somewhat flowing, light wash colored denim skirt and one of her 'Sanctuary' t-shirts before she pulled her hair into a tight ponytail and touched up her make-up. As she got ready for work, Parker found that she couldn't stop grinning to herself because things were finally going her way. She had a Squire job to do in New Orleans, so she could stay in town without worrying that she might anger her dad. On top of that she had some sort of romantic something happening with a bear. She hoped that she would finally be able to silence the doubts running around in the back of her mind about her ability to attract the opposite sex. But then again, this new relationship wasn't exactly one just yet, so she reminded herself not to get too ahead of herself yet. Maybe he didn't actually have feelings for her and he was just...

"Stop it!" She scolded herself out loud as she laced up her knee high boots that Aimée had found hidden under her bed. "Until you talk to him... like he promised you he would... don't think anything else about it." She let out a heavy sigh as she double checked her reflection and then said to it, "Once you're working for Ash you might not even have time for him... yeah..."

By the time she left her room, Parker had managed to put herself into a melancholy mood. Although rambling to people was probably one of her worst and most persistent bad habits, she also had a bad habit of letting her insecurities get the best of her and turn any thought into a negative one. Right now that meant that she had practically convinced herself that Remi's kissing her had nothing to do with him having feelings for her. What that action actually was an expression of hadn't quite become clear to her, but she was sure that if she gave herself enough time to over-think it that she would be able to come up with something, no matter how ludicrous it was.

 _Or you could just not think about it at all,_ she thought to herself as she passed through the kitchen towards the dining room. _You had a hot, brief make out session with a guy... a smoking hot guy... who just so happens to be a carbon copy of one of your oldest friends._ She managed to silence the sigh that wanted to escape her lips as she thought, _Okay. Now don't think about_ _ **THAT**_ _. Oh gods... this is hopeless. Work! Just focus on work._

Once she was in the dining room she noticed that they were having a relatively busy night and she couldn't help but to smile. A packed restaurant meant that she would have more than enough work to do, which in turn meant that she wouldn't have enough free time to let her mind wander back to the topic she didn't want to think about right now.

All of the tables looked like they had food and drinks, so she figured that meant that they had enough servers for the night. There were enough Were-Hunters that lived at Peltier House as well as human staff members to keep the bar running at all hours of the day and night, so them being fully staffed and that her absence wasn't missed on the floor wasn't a huge surprise to Parker. But even with that being said, or rather thought, she knew that there was always some sort of odd job that needed to be done. Tonight she decided that that would mean that she would help out by bussing tables instead of serving them.

She quickly ducked behind the bar to retrieve an apron, a towel and a plastic tub to clear tables so she missed seeing Aimée making her way across the room towards her. She also missed the unimpressed look that Aimée was wearing at seeing Parker out of bed.

While Parker was tying on her apron, she felt someone standing close to her. She looked up and saw Cherif quickly pouring a pint of beer from the tap beside her. He appeared to be rushing because he spilled a fair amount of it, but that also could have been a result of him not watching what he was doing. Instead of his eyes being on the task he was doing, the bartender's eyes appeared to be focused on someone… Someone that was now standing right behind Parker.

He rushed away towards the awaiting customer which caused Parker to wonder who it could be that had him so spooked. And if they were that scary, why had he left her alone with them without so much as a word of warning?

Feeling thoroughly confused, Parker turned around and actually jumped in her place because of the other person's close proximity. She kept her hand over her racing heart as she quietly exclaimed, "Aimée! Oh gods you scared me!"

"You're supposed to be resting," Aimée retorted without acknowledging Parker's statement.

"But Aims, I did… I mean I have been. I'm all… I'm not tired anymore. Please let me help with the dinner rush."

Parker tried to stand her ground without starting an all-out fight with Aimée. Since they were in the crowded bar, Aimée didn't want to cause a scene by physically forcing Parker out of the room. Instead, when Parker tried to cement herself into place, Aimée simply untied Parker's apron and started to remove it from her body.

"Oh good! Someone's ready to help with the dirty work," a voice praised from behind the two women.

Parker and Aimée turned to face the owner of the familiar voice. Fang's smile faded when he saw the look on Aimée's face and asked, "Honey? What's wrong?"

Aimée continued to take Parker's apron off as she answered, "Nothing much. It's just that Parker isn't here to help, she's heading back upstairs to her bed to rest."

Fang badly suppressed a smile when he heard Parker let out a soft, indignant scoff. He did, however, manage to straighten his face by the time Aimée turned to look at him. They truly were in need of an extra pair of hands to help clear tables for what felt like an unending stream of customers that were coming through the door, so he forced himself to behave so that he could least get his wife to hear him out.

"Please Aimée? It looks like it's a super busy night and I'd really like to help, please?" Parker tried pleading once again.

Fang noticed Aimée's face had softened ever so slightly at hearing Parker's near desperate plea. He took this as his opening to try to get Aimée onto his side. "Hold up there Parker. You took a pretty nasty blow to the head so we need to make sure that you're fit enough to be vertical."

Parker looked thoroughly confused because she thought that Fang was on her side in this. She tried not to sound disappointed as she quietly answered, "Okay."

"Okay," he repeated with a nod. "Have you eaten today? And I don't just mean a small snack here and there so that you could take pain killers."

"Yes, I had lunch and dinner today. You can ask Dev and Cherif if you don't believe me."

"I trust you. Now how about your head? Any headaches? Double vision? Dizzy spells? Loss of coordination?"

Parker finally recognized what Fang was doing, so she let her mounting excitement show as she answered, "No, no not of that… well except for the last one, but I've always been a klutz and everyone would know I was lying if I didn't fess up to that."

That small confession managed to evoke a soft laugh from Aimée. Fang shared a smile with Parker then asked, "If we let you help, do you promise to let someone know if you have any dizzy spells, headaches, or unusual bouts of clumsiness?"

"Yes! Absolutely!"

Aimée opened her mouth to speak, but Fang silenced her with a gentle squeeze on her shoulders. "And once the rush is over, do you promise to go to you room and rest for at least an hour?"

Parker's eyes went wide at hearing that. She really wanted to get mad at the wolf and the bear standing in front of her and remind them both that she wasn't a child who needed to be babied. But she knew that would be counterproductive, so instead she nodded and quietly replied, "I promise."

Fang and Parker then turned their eyes towards Aimée. The bearswan still didn't look convinced that Parker should be out of bed. She knew that she was being hard on her human friend, but she was beyond worried about Parker's well-being. On top of that she had made a promise to Parker's father before their fight with Eli's pack that if he didn't make it that she would take care of Parker. The two women had always been friends and corresponded occasionally, but after Parker's father's death, Aimée had started to pay closer attention to what and how Parker was doing. Even though she would have made the offer to Parker to stay with them when she returned to New Orleans, Aimée knew that the reason that she had insisted on it so emphatically was because of her promise to Jimmy Wallace.

Before Parker could speak, Fang gave her a look to keep her silent as he said, "Aims, Sweetheart, we really could use the extra help. We've had to move a couple of busboys into the kitchen and behind the bar to help keep us with the orders coming in. In fact, we were almost thinking about asking Remi to help out."

Parker bit her lip almost hard enough to break skin at the look Aimée was wearing. Everyone knew that because of Remi's surly demeanor that he usually only did jobs that would keep him away from the general public. Aimée glared at her mate for a couple of seconds because they would have to be absolutely desperate for help to ask Remi to lend a hand.

Aimée let out a heavy sigh before her entire demeanor softened as she replied, "Okay… fine. If we really need the extra hand, then I guess it wouldn't hurt to let Parker help out."

"Really?" The human questioned with an excited squeal. "Thanks Aimée! I promise I won't over do it!"

Parker pulled Aimée into an enthusiastic hug that the bear readily reciprocated with a chuckle. After she released her friend, Parker turned to embrace Fang. She had her arms opened wide but stopped herself short from touching him.

He let out a low chuckle at her awkwardness. He knew that if he okayed it that Parker would treat him like she did Dev and Aimée, but he still felt that it would be best for him to keep some distance form her. Even though she had grown up as a Squire's child, she still seemed to have a somewhat genuine naiveté about her and he really didn't want to be the one to tarnish any of the 'shiny' on her.

To try to help to diminish the inherent awkwardness of the situation they found themselves in, Fang picked up the tub Parker had previously been holding and said, "Here, you'll probably need this."

Parker took it with a smile and a quiet 'Thanks'. Aimée quickly retied the knots on Parker's apron and then passed her a towel. Up until that moment Parker had still looked somewhat hesitant about the job she had volunteered to do. When Aimée passed her the towel, she finally let her lingering self-doubts go and took it as Aimée's final consent to let her work tonight.

"Thanks again Aims. I really do promise to behave myself."

Fang and Aimée watched as Parker tried to force herself no to run around the bar into the dining room. Fang wrapped his arms around Aimée's shoulders and pulled her against his chest. She still appeared to be stressed about the situation, so he started to massage her shoulders. She then relaxed slowly against him and let him continue to release some of the tension from her muscles.

"She'll be fine Aims. Your Cub is all grown up, but she still has a lot to learn and she'll make a few mistakes along the way. It doesn't mean that anything's wrong." He dropped his hands down to her stomach and rubbed gentle circles on it and whispered, "She's been good practice for you. Baby, you're going to be an amazing Momma Bear."

PARKER was nearly skipping as she moved from table to table to remove the used place settings and cutlery from them. Every once in a while she would stop to chat with some of their regulars. Each of them had questioned her about the cut above her eye. At first she tried to give them an earnest answer, but after a while she started having fun with it. She told them ridiculous stories of fighting everything from vampires to monsters to a huge gang of bikers. By the end of her harrowing tales she had them all laughing. Even though she was only on clean up duty tonight, she knew that entertaining them now would help her to have healthier tips when she waitressed in the future.

She was still laughing at something a customer had said when she turned to take her next load of dishes to the kitchen. She took a couple of steps towards he destination before she froze completely in her place. First it was the sound of a familiar voice that had given her a moment of pause, but it was a familiar scene that had caused her to come to a complete, abrupt stop.

Deep down she knew that it wasn't unusual for Squires to hang out at Sanctuary, but right now she felt like Otto was here with his friends just to mock her. They were laughing and enjoying their drinks without paying her any attention, which reminded her of the time that he had done something similar in a small bar in Greece. That time he had done it on purpose to prove to her that he held more sway with the people she had hoped to befriend. She had continued to try, in vain, to win them over before she finally turned tail and ran back to school. Well in reality she just hid out in her room pretending that she was ill until their trip abroad came to an end.

Not wanting to relive any of those emotions again, Parker turned on her heel, placed the filled tub on a chair and then rushed towards the stairs to the second floor. She would have loved to have gone to her room at Peltier house, but that would have meant that she would have had to pass right by him, which would defeat the purpose of running away in the first place. She wanted to hide, but she didn't want him to how that she was trying to hide from him.

Once she made it to the second floor, Parker flopped down on one of the couches and let out a soft, frustrated cry. This was her home now and she had let him run her off from it to try to hind from him. From HIM! That was probably the most infuriating part for Parker. She had promised herself that she wouldn't let Otto rule how she lived her life once she got back to England and his had only been the first, well second time, that she had seen him since then and each time she had gone back on that promise to herself.

Feeling utterly frustrated and disgusted with herself, Parker punched the cushions on either side of her legs ash she screamed out a low, guttural, "Fuck!"

"Whoa… hey now," a voice called out from behind her. "Some of us have delicate sensibilities."

She quickly whipped around to find a familiar face playing pool by himself. She watched him for a couple of seconds to make sure that he was in fact the brother she thought that he was.

When she had that confirmation, Parker jumped up and rushed towards him replying, "Ha ha, too funny. Everyone knows there's nothing delicate about you Remi."

He hit the cue ball and sunk a solid colored ball into a pocket before he straightened up and placed a hand over his heart in mock horror. "Oh how she wounds me!" He then stepped up to her side and leaned down to whisper in her ear, "And here I thought we shared a delicate moment together yesterday."

Parker shivered as his breath ghosted over the shell of her ear. "Nope it wasn't delicate," she whispered back in a humorous tone. Remi straightened up and tried to hide the hurt in his eyes. Parker immediately noticed that he had misunderstood her teasing statement, so she grabbed his face to pull him down for a scorching kiss. "it wasn't delicate Remi, it was fucking hot and sexy."

He chuckled against her lips then quietly said, "Well I can't argue that." He then lifted Parker up and sat her on the edge of the pool table. Parker let out a surprised squeak before she settled in her place. "So last I heard, my sister had given strict orders that you are supposed to be on bed rest. What brings you up here to beat up a poor, defenseless couch?"

Parker let out a frustrated breath and did nothing to hide her annoyed tone when she answered, "I'm not a child. Plus, Carson said that the cut isn't even that bad, so I think that I've gotten enough bed rest thank you very much."

Remi placed a hand on either side of Parker's hips on the table top and leaned in so close that their noses almost touched. She swallowed thickly and had to force herself not to lean back and away from him. She didn't want to move away from him because of how close he was to her, although that was slightly unnerving. She wanted to do it because she wasn't able to focus on his eyes when he was that close and she always found that even when someone was able to keep their facial expressions in check, they normally couldn't control their eyes before they betrayed them and showed their true feelings. Parker had even noticed that that could be true for Acheron and he was the best 'actor' that she knew.

"And what does my sister think?" Remi asked so quietly that Parker's human ears almost didn't register it.

Parker swallowed uncomfortably again before she practically whispered her reply. "She said that I could help with the dinner rush."

"She did, did she?" He asked knowing that the human was leaving some tidbit of information out of her explanation.

"She did… well…" Parker finally gave into her urge and shrank back in her place. "Well she did after Fang told her they really needed some more help… and…"

When she trailed off, Remi waited a couple of breaths for her to continue before he asked, "And?"

"And… she would only agree to it if I promised to rest for at least an hour after the rush was over."

"And is it?"

"Is it what?" Parker asked sounding thoroughly confused.

"Over?" Remi clarified. "The rush that is. I mean if you're up here that must mean that the rush is over, right?"

"No," Parker whispered as she let out a shaky breath and vigorously shook her head.

Remi took a small step back so that he could see her better and sounded gravely serious when he asked, "What happened Parker?"

She shook her head again and gave him a watery smile as she replied, "It's nothing Remi. I just needed a breather…" She then added through a mumble that he wasn't supposed to hear. "And to get away from… everyone."

Because of his preternatural hearing, Remi caught the last bit of her statement with no issues. Thinking she meant that she wanted to be left completely alone, he started to take a large step back and away from her replying, "In that case, I'll stop bothering you. Sorry I intruded."

"NO!" Parker nearly shouted as she caught his arm. She pulled him closer to her and said, "I didn't mean you, Remi. You being up here was a VERY pleasant surprise. I just didn't want to deal with anymore customers and their questions or… umm… err…"

"Aimée?" Remi posed it as a question, but he knew he had it right.

Parker's cheeks turned a dark pink causing Remi to chuckle. He placed his hands on her cheeks and tried to ease away her blush by running his thumbs back and forth over her cheeks. She let out a contented sigh as she relaxed in her seat. Her blush was still dark and vibrant, but Remi allowed himself to smile when she closed her eyes and let him claim the full weight of her head.

"I know Aimée can be a little intense right now," he explained in a soft, calming tone. "But it's because she loves you and is protective of you. Our _Maman_ as the same way… actually pretty much all of the mothers that live under our roof are so fiercely protective of the young in our house that it's kind of scary sometimes."

Parker let out another sigh. She wrapped her arms around Remi's waist and slipped her hands into the back pocket of his jeans. To an outsider it may have looked like Parker had become overly friendly with Remi in a short amount of time, but for both of them it just felt strangely natural and comfortable and frankly it just felt 'right'.

"I know they are and honestly I usually don't mind, but tonight I just… I don't know. It just… it's… it's a little… stifling. I slept most of the night and day between yesterday and today, so I'm ready to… to… y'know… to join the land of the living again."

Parker let out a strange sound that was a cross between a groan and a sigh. In order to get a better read on her current demeanor Remi let go of her face. Almost immediately Parker let out another groan as she did a face plant into his chest. He chuckled softly and started to stroke the back of her neck to try to ease her troubled mind.

"I sound so ungrateful, don't I?" Parker asked as she leaned back to look up at him.

He continued to pet the length of her hair in the ponytail as he replied, "No, you don't. You've lived on your own for quite a while now, so it must be quite an adjustment to have a mother hen looking over your shoulder everywhere you turn." Parker sat up a little straighter and tilted her head to one side as if to look at him like he was a puzzle to be solved. Remi looked over each of his shoulders then asked, "What? What is it?"

"You," she answered without a moment of hesitation. "You are way smarter and insightful than you let anyone see. Why?"

He gave her a cheeky smile as he answered, "When you start to give advice, especially if it's good, then people expect it from you all of the time. They'll even search you out just to harass you for even more of it. That just make it hard to keep up."

Parker smiled and retorted teasingly, "Uh huh. I'm sure that's all there is to it."

That reply elicited another laugh from Remi. Parker reveled slightly in a euphoric daze at the fact that she could cause such a happy sound to issue from this member of the Peltier clan. She could never have predicted that she and Remi would ever become anything close to being friends, let alone the type of friends that were touchy-feely or, even more shockingly, the kind that kissed. But again she dismissed that feeling of awe because strangely it felt so right that it seemed natural.

She then wrapped her hands around his waist and pulled him closer to the pool table. He pulled the tie from her hair so that he could comb his fingers through her hair as he started to get lost in his own thoughts about their somewhat strange relationship. There had only been one woman with whom he had felt this way, but that had only lasted long enough for him to have his heart ripped out and stomped into a million pieces.

Was he prepared to open himself up to feeling that way again? He knew that in some ways he wasn't and probably never would be. But when he looked into Parker's bright, light blue eyes he felt himself get completely lost in them. Normally he would be alright with that, but with Parker he was willing to let the moment last. Well at least for as long as she would allow him to because he was sure that sooner or later she would come to her senses and completely change her mind about this whole affair.

Parker watched the light fade from Remi's eyes and she quickly recognized what was happening. She had seen that look on her own face enough times to know that words wouldn't be enough to erase it. She then wrapped a hand around the back of his neck so that she could pull his face down to hers. As se laid claim to his lips with her own, Parker lifted her buttocks slightly so that she could pull her skirt up her thighs. Thankfully Remi took control of their kiss so that she could focus on other things such as wrapping her legs around him so that she could rub her now moist panties against the front of his jeans. He growled into her mouth at the feeling of her rubbing herself against him, which was the effect she had desired.

Once Parker's legs had wrapped themselves fully around his waist, Remi cupped her buttocks with both of his hands so that he could lift her up and press her more firmly against his body. When she felt that she had caused a certain part of his body to harden, Parker detached her lips from his so that she could let out an excited gasp.

"This is a family establishment," he whispered against her neck between kisses as he started to carry her away from the pool table. "I think we should take this somewhere more private."

"Me too," she replied with another breathy gasp. "Plus I did promise to head to bed after working… but no one said that I had to be alone."

"Bed… yeah… good idea."

Parker was still chuckling softly when she opened he eyes to see that Remi had teleported them to a bed room. He seemed content to focus his attention on kissing every inch of her neck that he could reach so she took some time to look around the room. She had assumed that he would take them to her own room. But this definitely wasn't it.

Remi had waited a half of a minute before moving to make sure that Parker wasn't going to get sick from him teleporting them. In his experience all humans reacted differently to it and since Parker had gotten a head rush the last time, he worried she might this time as well. When she voiced no words of complaint, he decided that he would carry her over to his bed.

"This isn't my room," Parker stated quietly, almost as if she was worried that someone might overhear her.

Remi stopped kissing her so that he could reply, "I wasn't sure if you had moved anything and I didn't want to risk messing up the landing."

"Moved…? But last time… oh gods… Remi!" He froze in his place at hearing Parker nearly shout out his name. She sat up higher in his arms to look into his eyes as she asked, "Does that mean that I have you to thank for cleaning up the mess I made in my room?"

"I knew you'd need to rest after everything that happened and I didn't think you'd be able to do that with the way you left your room."

"Remi… you shouldn't…" She moved her hands from his shoulders to his face and gave him another deep kiss. "I meant to say… Thank you. That was very thoughtful of you."

"It's nothing," he replied moving towards the bed once again.

"It's something," she countered as he laid her down on the mattress.

Parker didn't release her hold on him, so Remi was forced to lay down on top of her to keep from hurting the human. That was precisely what Parker had planned, so it didn't take much maneuvering on her part to make them more comfortable. Although Parker didn't seem too concerned about it, Remi still tried to keep the majority of his weight off of her body by planting one arm onto his mattress as he devoured her mouth with hungry kisses. Parker let her legs fall away from his body, but kept her arms wrapped around his neck so that she could cup the back of his head with her hands.

Once Parker's legs fell away onto the bed, Remi ran his hands up her thighs under her skirt and gently tugged at the waist of her panties. She quickly took the hint and lifted her butt off the bed so that he could easily work them down her legs. Her grip on his neck tightened, but neither of them relented during the kiss. Parker's attention had been so focused on wrestling her tongue with his that she actually gasped when he felt him press his now bare self against her entrance.

Remi felt her stiffen underneath of him, so he pushed himself up into a modified pushup so that he could look down at her to quietly ask, "Parker are you…? I mean are…? Is…?

She let out a breathy laugh at his hesitation then answered, "I've only ever been with humans. Do you have…? Umm… protection?"

He lowered himself and then thrust softly into her as he said, "We aren't mated, so that won't be an issue."

Parker felt like her breath had been stolen away as he continued to push his full length into her. Although she wasn't a virgin, this was her first time with a Were-Hunter and she had always wondered how different the experience would be. She had also never had any close human girlfriends with whom she could have talked to about the differences, so she felt herself staring to become very nervous.

Once Remi had managed to work his full length into her, he froze and placed a soft kiss against her lips. Parker tried her best not to move because she had never felt this full before with any of the male humans with whom she had shared intimacies. She almost worried that Remi had stopped because her frail human body didn't measure up to the Were-Hunters he had been with previously, so she didn't want to move and do something wrong.

Remi lowered his lips to her ear and whispered, "Are you alright Cub?"

Parker turned her head to kiss his cheek before she answered, "Better than alright."

He took that as her giving him the green light to continue so Remi gave her a wicked grin before he thrust his tongue into her mouth as he pulled his hips back and snapped them forward. He swallowed Parker's gasp of excitement and surprise at his rougher treatment of her body. He continued to piston his hips back and forth at such an incredible pace that Parker hadn't had a chance to try to catch up to him before her first orgasm ripped through her core.

Remi was forced to relinquish his claim to her lips so that he could throw his head back and let out a soft cry. Parker was not as reserved. The instant Remi removed his mouth from hers, she let out a wordless scream in reaction to the intense feelings rippling through her. He let out a breathy laugh at how her hands scrambled to find the head board to hold onto while her eyes were squeezed tightly closed.

The motion of Remi's slowed down slightly while he watched Parker's reaction. She didn't seem to notice at first, but when she did her eyes snapped open. Hey eyes quickly found his now that he was sitting up on his knees and towering over her. She remained with her back on the mattress, but she did move her hands to his still jean clad buttocks and pulled him even further into herself. He didn't require any other prompting and quickly resumed her see-saw motions inside of her body.

Parker once again grabbed onto the headboard so that she could try to keep up with him in a complimentary motion, but she quickly realized that she wasn't going to be able to keep up. She then maintained her grip on his headboard to try to anchor herself. He gave her a satisfied smirk at watching her give herself completely over to him to satisfy her.

"Oh gods!" She cried out as he added a slight swivel to his hips while he continued to move in and out of her.

He started to give her a cheeky reply, but he was silenced by his own climax claiming him. Parker opened her mouth to scream, but no sound came out as he brought her to her second apex. She laid back and relaxed in her place thinking that he would collapsed soon form his exerting, but that was not to be. She opened her eyes in pure fascination as a variety of emotions fluttered across his face until he finally slumped in his place and slowly disconnected from her.

"Wow," she commented in quiet awe as she raised her hand up to pet his cheek. "That was amazing."

Remi nuzzled his face into the palm of her hand and then kissed the middle of her palm. Parker watched him in rapt attention as he continued to caress the palm of her hand with soft kisses. She started to feel slightly uncomfortable with the attention he was paying that part of her anatomy, but after the feelings of sheer bliss he had given to her, she was willing to let him indulge himself for a while.

After felt like an uncomfortably long time (well at least to Parker), Remi let go of her hand and just stared down at her. Without saying a word, he fastened his jeans and moved off of the bed. Parker rolled onto her side so that she could watch him more easily. He walked over to his bedroom door and for a second she thought he was going to leave, but he just checked that the door was closed tight and then flipped the lock to fully secure it.

He then turned around and moved towards her looking like a predator stalking its prey. Parker couldn't really decipher the look on Remi's face, but she tried not to show her fear as she moved back across his bed. Remi didn't seem to notice the human's unease and he just slipped onto the bed beside her as if she had moved just to make room for him.

Remi lifted up one of her hands and braided their fingers together as he laid down beside her. While he settled in beside her, he quietly explained, "My nieces and nephews like to come and bug me when they wake up sometimes. If they saw you in here, they would have questions and… well not that I'm ashamed, but…"

Parker surged forward to silence him with a kiss. He released his hold on her hand in exchange for tangling his fingers in her loose hair. She hadn't meant for this kiss to lead anywhere, but at the same time she knew that she would do nothing to stop whatever Remi wanted to so. When he started to ease out of the embrace, she wasn't sure if she should feel relieved or annoyed.

Since she had initiated the contact, she decided that she should just be happy that he had reciprocated it. As such she smiled brightly then said, "It's alright Remi. This… whatever it is between us, it's… well it's new and we need to figure… I mean… it'll be easier if we aren't under everyone's microscope while we figure it out… on our own."

He chuckled and once again took her hand in his. "Yeah, something sort of… kind of… exactly like that," he kidded.

Parker blushed and removed her hand from his hold so that she could playfully shove his shoulder. "Hey I have a brain injury. You should be nicer to me."

"I thought I was pretty nice to you," he countered with a teasing tone. His face quickly sobered up as he gently ran a fingertip over her stitched wound saying, "But all joking aside, after… err… exerting so much energy, you should probably try to get some rest."

"That's true," Parker agreed as she sidled up closer to his side. Their noses were nearly touching as she whispered, "But I can't sleep in this."

"Well I think I can take care of that," he whispered back before he pulled her in for a kiss.

Without breaking the embrace Remi rolled onto his back and he pulled Parker on top of him. She shivered at feeling him slip his hand under the hem of her shirt to brush his fingertips over her spine. She had no idea how a hot make out session would help her to sleep in her t-shirt and denim skirt, but then again it was a hot make out session with Remi so she was completely happy with where she was right now.

Suddenly Parker pulled back with a gasp at feeling her naked body pressed against his now naked flesh. Not trusting her sense of touch, Parker quickly looked over her shoulders to confirm what she felt. When she turned back to give him a look of astonishment, Remi chuckled softly and ran both of his hands over her back and then down her legs.

"Another bonus of being with a Were-Hunter… we can wield magic," he teased.

Parker placed a hand on either side of his head so that she could look down at him. She then raised a playful eyebrow as she asked, "Another? What was the first?"

Remi raised his buttocks off of the bed to brush his now nearly completely rigid member against her stomach answering, "We also don't need as much turnaround time as humans."

Parker gasped before she shimmied down his body so that they lined up more comfortable from head to toe. This time their lips found each other's while they both worked at joining their bodies.

"Oh gods!" Parker breathed out against his ear. "I wasn't really tired yet anyways."


	8. Chapter 7

Remi was laying on his side watching Parker sleep when he thought he heard some sort of commotion outside in the hallway. He remained in his place while he focused on what was being said on the other side of his bedroom door to use his preternatural powers to listen in.

"But he found her tub randomly discarded on a chair. How do you know nothing bad has happened to her?" He heard Aimée worriedly asking whomever was with her.

"Because you know as well as I do that things aren't always what they seem," Dev replied in a careful, placating tone. "Why don't we go check out her room before we start freaking out?"

"I've already checked there. Why do you think I asked you to help me look for her?" He heard Aimée retort as her voice started to fade away.

 _Shit_. Remi thought to himself as he let out a silent sigh. He should have known better and that sooner or later something bad would happen. That something would happen and it would mean that he would have to let her go. He had just hoped that their moment together could have lasted a little while longer.

After letting out another soft sigh, he leaned in close to Parker's face. He gently brushed his nose against hers as he whispered, "Parker… Par-ker… "

"Mmm..." She grumbled as she rubbed her eyes and tried to roll away from him. "Merh... five more minutes."

"No Parker, you need to open your eyes... now," he quietly replied against her as he gently shook her shoulders.

Parker kept trying to snuggle into his side to fall back asleep so Remi started to shake her shoulders more vigorously. It seemed to do the trick because she finally started to open her eyes. She really wanted to glare at whoever thought it was a good idea to disturb her slumber. Instead when she opened her eyes she found the one person that could now always put a smile on her face.

As a lazy smile spread across her face, Parker turned onto her side to face Remi and said, "You may not need much turnaround time, but I seriously need some sleep if I’m going to be able to function at all later."

He let out a breathy laugh and did nothing to stop her from pecking his lips. She then took one of his hands in both of hers and tucked it against her chest lit his limb was a teddy bear. He took in the contented look on her face and hated that he would have to do something, anything, to extinguish the light he saw on her face. Even though he hated it, he knew he was going to have to go through with it.

He petted the side of her head and then tucked her hair behind her ear with his free hand. Remi leaned down to gently kiss her lips. She chased his lips as he pulled away from her and he almost gave into his desire to keep her as happy as he could for the time being, but then the tone of Aimée's voice came back to haunt him. She was so genuinely worried about the young human and he didn't want to do anything that might prolong those feelings in any way.

When Parker moved to press her lips against his again, Remi placed a firm hand on her shoulder and said, "You don't know how much I wish that that was the reason I had to wake you up."

Parker frowned at the tone of his voice and moved a little bit away from him as she asked, "What's wrong? Why do...? Is something...? Did I...?"

He heard panic creeping into her tone, so he made sure to keep his voice as calm as possible when he replied, "Technically you didn't do anything wrong, but I overheard my sister in the hallway and..."

"Shit," Parker cursed out softly but with feeling. Remi raised an inquisitive eyebrow at her response because it sounded like she knew why Aimée may have been so upset. She caught the look on his face, so she sat up with her back against the headboard and the sheet pulled up as high as she could get it and explained, "She's probably having a coronary because I sort of... umm... I kind of abandoned my post without telling anyone."

Parker kept her eyes focused on anywhere in the room that Remi wasn't while she spoke. He had spent enough time with her to know that the only time she didn't make eye contact during a conversation was when she was rambling on while she was working or cleaning (and therefore couldn't). Any other time she seemed to insist on maintaining almost painfully direct eye contact.

Well she insisted except for the occasions when she wasn't being completely honest or was trying to hid something. Right now Remi was more than certain that she was leaving out a piece of information that would explain not only about how she was acting right now, but also how she was acting a few hours ago while he was playing pool.

"Parker?" He quietly asked as he resettled himself in an almost identical stance as Parker. (He just didn't worry about covering himself up. They had been laying naked on or in his bed for about an hour now, so he saw no reason to cover himself up now.) "Parker, does this have anything to do with you beating up the couch earlier tonight?"

She grumbled out a reply that even he couldn't hear or understand. "I'm sorry," he answered in a slightly playful tone. "I couldn't catch that."

Parker kept her chin tilted down, but she did move her eyes so that she could look at him out of the corner of them. "It's kind of embarrassing," she repeated in a very meek tone.

"Hey, I'm not exactly known for being a Boy Scout, so I'm sure that you've heard more than a few embarrassing stories about me."

That comment earned him a small smile while Parker appeared to have a debate with herself. She wasn't sure if she wanted to admit, out loud, what had happened with Otto because she didn't want Remi to think that she was a coward. But then she watched him tentatively reach over to take her left hand into his own and all she wanted to do was to pour her heart out to him. It might disgust him and he might dump her right then and there, but she didn't really care at that moment.

"So I wasn't trying to get away from customers... or... or Aimée," she slowly explained.

Remi started petting her hand and forearm as he asked, "Okay, if not from them then can I ask who you WERE running away from?"

Once again she refused to make eye contact with him as she very quietly answered, "Otto."

"The Squire?"

"Yeah."

"The guy who 'rescued' you from me?" You could practically hear the quotation marks when Remi said the word 'rescued'.

"Yes," she answered as she watched his hand caress her hand and arm.

"Okay... but I thought that all of you Squires were friends or something, why would seeing him here bother you?"

Parker let out a long sigh. She then carefully extracted her hand from his hold so that she could turn to face Remi. Since he had used magic to undress them, she had no idea where their clothing had gone. She really didn't feel comfortable being in the buff for this particular conversation, so she scooped up his comforter and wrapped it around her back and upper body. Remi watched her with a worried eye and opted not to move at all to keep from spooking her.

She tightened her hold on the blanket and pulled it even closer to her body as she said to her lap, "I haven't told anyone about this, not even Aimée or Dev..." She then looked up at him and added, "So it might take me a while to get it all out."

Remi could see tears brimming her eyes, but she was keeping her voice almost eerily calm so he wanted to support her in any way that he could. Right now that meant that he covered his lap with a sheet and turned so that they could look at each other more easily.

He then squeezed her knee through the comforter and said, "I'm not going anywhere. If you change your mind, that's okay too. Don't force yourself on my account."

She sniffled in a breath and then replied, "Thanks Remi, but I think I need to get this off my chest. But you have to promise me that you won't get mad or let what I say change the way you treat him."

"Otto?"

"Yeah."

"Otto? The bag of dicks that accused me of smacking you around and has yet to apologize to me? That Otto? Pretty sure whatever you tell me won't be an issue."

Parker snorted in a laugh then said, "Well when you put it that way..." She took in a deep breath and let it out slowly to center herself. "So on a trip to Greece my senior year, we met up with a group of Squires. Otto's family sort of knows mine, so I used that to break the ice and that umm... it... uhh..."

"Turned into you two dating?" Remi supplied in an attempt to help her tell her tale.

Parker couldn't help but to sputter out a laugh before she replied, "Dated? No, I think the term most people use is 'hooked up' or had a... uh... a… umm... one-night stand."

Remi's eyes narrowed as he watched a mixture of emotions wash over her face. "Did he make you do a walk of shame?" The surprised, wide-eyed look on her face cause Remi to laugh softly. He then squeezed her knee again and added, "Some of us here are very well versed in the art of the one-night stand, but..." He brushed a fingertip over one of her brows and then tucked a stray lock of electric blue hair behind her ear. "But pretty much none of them have had such a haunted look in their eyes when they leave Sanctuary."

Parker gave him a weak smile and then swallowed down the lump that was trying to form in her throat. She was kind of glad that Otto had pissed Remi off all on his own because she knew it would be easy to add fuel to that fire. But she also knew that she was partially to blame for her predicament so she tried to make sure that she made that clear to Remi as well.

"No, there was no actual walk of shame, but... and please let me preface this next part with the fact that I lied to him. I told him I was experienced and had been with other guys and that... well that I wasn't... that it wasn't my first time. It didn't take long for him to realize that I had lied about all of it. He was gentle and he made sure it didn't totally suck, but... umm... well..."

"Shh, it's okay Parker," Remi whispered as he tried to pull her into a hug.

Parker resisted his trying to embrace her, but only because she didn't want to breakdown... yet. "No, please let me try to finish. He and I had talked about needy girls and all that. Since I was sort of going through a Tomboy phase I convinced him... and then... well anyways I became a bit of like the clingy chicks he told me that he always tried to avoid. That in turn meant that he freezed... froze... umm... anyway I got the ultimate cold shoulder from him and that lead to a bunch of the other Squires not talking to me because they didn't want to get on the wrong side of a Carvalletti. I thought that after I graduated from high school that things would be better, but it just got worse. After he found out that I was working in a Pub, he started showing up whenever he was anywhere remotely close to London and somehow always sat in my section just so that he could order me around... and change his order... and complain about the smallest things... he even got me into trouble with my manager for his beer being too warm even though... well anyway I just... I don't want you to think that I'll do that to you too, okay?"

Remi visibly startled in his place when he heard the last part of her statement. He reached out to her once again and this time she liberated one of her hands so that he could hold it in both of his.

"Parker," he started with a sigh. "You aren't the same girl you were back then... and to be honest that scenario never even crossed my mind, so it isn't anything that I’ve worried about at all."

"Oh... okay..." She smiled and looked like she visibly relaxed in her place. "So anyways back to the story. Things got so bad that we couldn't even be civil to each other, even as customer and server. Whenever he and his friends came in, my manager would put me on kitchen cleaning duty." She saw a question forming on Remi's face so she quickly added, "Money talks and... well... his family has a lot of it. But then he finally stopped coming by. Before the other night, it had been a little over two years since we had last seen each other. He was his usual jackass self when he introduced me to Nick and... well you know the rest of that."

“Did he say anything to you tonight?”

Parker shook her head answering, “No. I didn’t want to deal with him again so soon so… so… like a coward I ran upstairs before he could see me… and then I ran into you…”

“You aren’t a coward. Plus, I think it all turned out for the best, if you were to ask me,” Remi replied when she trailed off with a large smile ln his face.

Parker blushed then whispered, “Me too.” She then let go of his comforter and moved to sit straddling his lap as she wrapped her arms around his neck and quietly added, “And as much as I’d love to stay here with you, I should go before Aimée calls out the National Guard or something.”

Remi hugged Parker’s naked body to his own replying, “Or worse yet… Acheron.”

She giggled at that comment, but didn’t tell him that Ash already knew about their relationship. It wasn’t that she wanted to keep secrets from him, she just didn’t want him to be self-conscious around the leader of the Dark-Hunters, especially if this fling between them didn’t last.

“So if you could flash me to my room, I think I have a plan to smooth things over with your sister,” Parker said with her head on his shoulder. She immediately remembered what he had said about not teleporting to her room before, so she sat up and added, “The only thing I’ve moved is a chair… oh and clothes in my closet. If you… umm… aim? Is that the right word? Umm… well… my bed is pretty much the exact same as before.”

“Okay,” he answered before leaning in to kiss her.

As before when she opened her eyes she found herself on her bed still wrapped tightly in Remi’s arms. They stared at each other with their noses almost touching for a couple of seconds before Parker closed the distance between them and practically inhaled his lips. Remi chuckled at her eagerness and immediately reciprocated, but with a little less intensity. When he felt Parker trying to take their contact beyond a kiss, he gently shoved her back by the shoulders and leaned back away from her.

Understanding why Remi had done that, Parker moved off the be bed saying, “Sorry… I… I… I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay Parker. Believe me, that is exactly what I would love to do, but…”

“I have to find Aimée,” she finished for him. She looked down at her still naked body and chuckled. “But clothes… clothes first.”

She moved quickly over to her closet and pulled out a dark blue silk robe. Remi stayed on her bed and watched her, secretly wishing that he could magic her robe away and spend some more alone time with her in her bed. When she turned around she could feel his eyes practically eating her up so she made sure to keep her distance. There was almost a magnetic attraction between them and it was all she could do no to join him back on her bed.

Suddenly Remi sat up straighter on her bed and tilted his head to one side. A frown formed on his face as he told her, “Aimée’s on her way back here with Dev. He’s convinced her to check your room again.”

Before he finished his sentence, she tightened the belt on her rob and ran to her door. She pulled it open, stepped into the hallway and quickly closed it. She nearly ran into Aimée when she exited her room, but the bear had been able to move back before they actually collided.

“Parker!” Aimée exclaimed with a gasp. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you.”

“I’m sorry,” Parker replied trying to remember the story she had concocted while in Remi’s room. “I was starting to get a headache and felt really fatigued so I went upstairs in the bar to rest for a bit.”

“I checked up there first and you weren’t anywhere to be seen,” Aimée replied sounding somewhat suspicious.

Parker forced herself to keep her voice even so that Aimée wouldn’t suspect that she was lying. “Remi was up there playing pool and he said that I looked really flushed and should have a nap or something so he teleported me back here.”

Aimée’s eyes narrowed as she almost angrily retorted, “Your room was the second place that I checked.”

“Oh! By ‘here’ I meant back to Peltier House. He brought be to his room because he wasn’t sure about any changes that I had made to my room after I moved in. Plus, I’ve never reacted well to teleporting… well, not that I do it a lot or anything… so he let me nap first in his room. Once I wasn’t feeling like I was going to hurl, he brought be back to my room. He had heard that you were looking for me, so… well I came out here to find you before I turned in for another nap in my own bed.”

Aimée didn’t reply right away, so Parker tried not to look nervous while she just stood still in her place. Dev moved around his sister and placed the back of his hand against Parker’s forehead. Parker instinctively shrank back from both bears then because she was certain that they had figured out that she was lying and were waiting for her to admit it before they had to call her out on it.

Dev then moved both of his hands to her cheeks and moved her head from side to side as he commented, “You still look pretty flush. Are you sure that you’re feeling alright?”

“Well…” Parker started slowly as she tried to decide how she was going to play this off. Since she had already started digging her a hole by lying to her two closest friends, she decided to just keep digging in deeper. She was starting to feel so guilty that she was actually starting to feel queasy. She used that to her advantage and let out a soft groan before she replied, “My stomach really isn’t too happy with me right now.”

“Oh Cub!” Aimée called out in an apologetic tone. “You should go lay down again.”

“No, it’s okay… I’ll be alright. Just let me get changed and I’ll come down to help with clean up.”

“On no you won’t,” the bearswan sternly replied. “You were smart enough to have Remi help bring you back to bed, there’s no way I’m going to let you start acting stupid now.”

“It really is alright Parker,” Dev added in his patented placating tone. “I’ll go grab Remi and get him to help. You go and rest. We’ve got the restaurant covered.”

“Okay… but only if you’re sure,” Parker offered again as she put her hand on her door knob.

“Bed… now!” Aimée ordered with a smile on her face.

Parker waited for Aimée and Dev to turn to leave before she turned the knob to open the door. She forced herself not to rush back into her room because she wasn’t supposed to be feeling well and that would be a dead giveaway that she was being less than truthful. Once she was in her room, she quietly closed her door and nearly ran face first into Remi’s chest.

“So?” He asked with an expectant look on his face.

“They bought it. And I’m totally off the hook for doing any more work tonight, but…” Parker started to explain until she was cut off by Remi’s mouth covering her own.

Parker gave herself over completely to his kiss. She did nothing to stop him from pushing his hands past the lapels of her robe so that he could wrap his hands around her shoulders. Her robe followed the route of his hands and started to slip off of her shoulders, so Parker moved her hands to her belt. As she started to untie her belt, Remi quickly detached himself from her body to move behind her now opening door.

Aimée saw the surprised look on Parker’s face while the human quickly pulled her robe into place. The bear tilted her chin down and diverted her gaze as she said, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to barge in like that, but did Remi say where he was going after you dropped you off here?”

Parker bit the inside of her cheek to keep herself from smiling. “No, but if he isn’t in his room… maybe he went back to finish his game that I interrupted.”

Aimée looked up then and smiled. “I hadn’t thought of that. Thanks Cub! Now to bed with you. You’re looking even more flushed than you did before.” Aimée started to leave then but she abruptly stopped before she closed the door to add, “Oh and tomorrow is your day off. I won’t take no for an answer.”

“Oh… okay. Thanks Aims.”

Aimée gave Parker a grateful smile at the human not trying to argue with her at all. After her door was closed she turned her attention back to the man in her room. The naked man who she wanted to jump onto right then and there to finish what Aimée had interrupted. But she couldn’t because his family was now looking for him, so she forced herself to remain rooted in her spot.

Remi watched as a variety of emotions passed over Parker’s face until a look of undeniable lust took her over. At first he thought that her eyes had focused on a part of his body just south of the belt line, but then he realized she was staring right into his eyes. He was beginning to think that whatever it was between them was just lust and an insatiable desire to give each other sexual gratification, but now he was starting to wonder if maybe there was more to it. The fact that she could have such heat in her eyes when she was looking into his own made Remi’s heart rate start to accelerate and a certain part of his anatomy to become almost painfully hard.

He slowly moved towards her wishing that they could finish what they had started, but he had to go and find his sister before she came looking for him again. As he moved towards Parker he manifested an outfit to cover his body. Parker’s eyes went comically wide at seeing Remi clothe himself with what appeared to be nothing more than a thought. He gave her a cheeky grin and then both of them laughed softly.

When he reached the spot right in front of Parker, Remi leaned down and gave her a soft kiss. “As much as I’d like to stay…”

“And finish what we started,” Parker added as she wrapped her arms around his waist. “You have to go get ‘found’ by your sister.”

Remi startled slightly in his spot then said, “That’s almost exactly what I was thinking… like word for word.”

Parker stepped back and grinned. “Well… it’s the truth.”

He took both of her hands in his and placed another soft, lingering kiss on her lips. “Good night Parker. _Fait de beaux rêves_.”

“ _Merci, toi aussi_ ,” she replied in a flawless French accent.

He kissed her again, but this time when Parker opened her eyes, she found herself alone in her room. She licked her lips to let the taste of him linger in her mouth. As she walked towards her bed she silently laughed to herself because she couldn’t help but wonder if there was something about a kiss that helped Remi to teleport from place to place.

She was still smiling at that thought when she dropped her robe on the floor by her bed and crawled under the covers still completely naked. She normally only slept in her birthday suit when she had someone else in bed with her, but tonight she did it in the hopes that a certain someone would join her.

THE NEXT DAY Parker forced herself to sleep in late. She woke up feeling a little bit disappointed because she had slept soundly though the night and woke up with the sun shining through the edges of her blinds completely alone. She figured that meant that Remi had gone to his own room to sleep. In a way that made sense to her because she had read somewhere that Were-Hunters slept in their base form, which meant that anyone from the Katagaria branch slept in their animal form. Although she loved to cuddle in bed with a teddy bear, she wasn’t sure how she felt about sleeping with an actual bear. Especially since she hadn’t even seen what Remi looked like when he was in his (what she assumed was) his natural bear form.

With him still on her mind, Parker picked out a dress to wear and then wrapped herself in a plush terry cloth robe to head to the bathroom to have a shower. Once she started the water, she decided that if today was supposed to be her day off that she was going to indulge herself and soak in a bubble bath after she was finished with her shower.

That had definitely done the trick to help her relax because Parker almost fell asleep in the tub. Miraculously no one knocked on the door while she was soaking and by the time she got out of the tub, the water had actually started to cool.

Parker was usually a minimalist when she did her hair and makeup, but today she decided that she wanted to put in more of an effort than usual. One of her friends form the pub she had worked at had shown her some tricks to help make her bright blue eyes stand out even more on her face. It had been a while since she had put any of those techniques to use, but somehow she managed to make them work. Even if it wasn’t exactly how she remembered it had looked before, she was still really happy with the outcome.

Once she was finished dressing, Parker decided that she was going to play tourist for the day. Since it was well past noon by the time she left her room for good for the day, she then decided that her first order of business would be to have lunch, so she hurried towards the bar to get something to eat. Since she wasn’t used to putting in much effort into her looks, she did a few double takes when she noticed that some of the staff and patrons had done the same. Each time their heads had turned to look in her direction, she had turned hers as well to see who they were looking at. After the third time she finally realized it was her, so she practically ran to a table because she never felt comfortable being the center of attention.

“Welcome to Sanctuary. Can I start you off with a beverage?”

Parker took the offered menu and almost laughed at Serre for acting like he hadn’t recognized her. Granted they didn’t know each other well, but she had made sure to reintroduce herself to every member of the Peltier clan when she moved in to try to keep things from becoming too awkward at home. But when she didn’t answer right away, he looked up from his pad and raised a questioning brow, she realized that maybe he actually didn’t know who she was or recognize her at all.

“Oh… umm… I guess I’ll… I mean I’d…” She stumbled over her words at her latest revelation.

Serre’s eyes narrowed as he watched his customer struggle to order a drink when a light went off in his mind. “Parker? Shit, I’m sorry I didn’t recognize you. Really, I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.” She smiled demurely then added, “I guess that means that I should try looking like a girl more often.”

He snorted in a laugh then replied, “I say you do whatever makes you happy. But you do look great.”

Parker blushed and forced herself not to duck her head down in embarrassment as she whispered, “Thanks.”

“So the usual for you then?”

“Yes, please,” she replied with a relieved smile. As he turned away her eyes drifted to the other side of the room and she had a thought. “Oh wait! Serre! Could…? Umm… Would you mind delivering it to the second floor?”

He gave her a cheeky grin as he replied, “Not at all. The job is a lot easier if you don’t have to walk.”

Parker just stared at him blankly for a couple of seconds before his joke registered. She had briefly forgotten that the second floor was completely closed off to the public. That way anyone that needed to get to Sanctuary quickly could do so without drawing any undue attention to themselves or the Peltiers.

“Oh… right… of course,” she finally answered with a nervous laugh. “I keep forgetting about that nifty talent.”

He chuckled softly then said, “I guess you would. I’ll have it up to you in a couple of minutes.”

“Awesome… thanks!” She replied as she jumped to her feet and made her way upstairs.

She knew it was a long shot and that it wasn’t likely for him to be up there again, but Parker was still disappointed when she didn’t find Remi upstairs. But then again she had promised herself that she wasn’t going to be the type of girl who chased after a guy when he clearly wasn’t into her the same way. Not that Remi had given her any reason to believe that he wasn’t completely into her. No, he most definitely seemed to enjoy her company, so Parker wanted to make sure that she didn’t do anything to annoy him enough to change that.

While she waited for Serre to ‘pop in’ with her meal Parker picked up a pool cue to play a round by herself. She chuckled at her joke about Serre as she rounded up the balls that were strewn all over the table top and shook her head at how corny her humor truly was and always had been.

“I was in the middle of a game,” a voice whispered in her ear after she finished racking up the balls.

At hearing the growl in his voice, Parker stiffened in her place as she let out a shaky breath. She swallowed hard and then whispered, “I’m sorry. I didn’t think anyone else was up here.”

“That’s okay,” he replied as he crowded even further into her back.

He gently ran his fingertips up under Parker’s skirt to her inner thigh causing her to let out another stuttered breath as she shivered in anticipation. She tightened her grip on her pool cue while his fingers continued to travel up her leg.

Although she didn’t want him to stop, she forced herself to say, “Se---Serre…”

Remi dropped his hands and took a large step back as he angrily growled out, “No, I’m still Remi. But if you two planned on being alone, I’ll just…”

“No,” Parker quickly protested. When he moved to walk away she block his path using the pool cue to take up even more space to further barricade his escape route. “No, it’s just that he’s going to bring my order up here. I… I just wanted to tell you before things went too far.”

After a couple of breaths, they both heard someone call out from behind her, “Uhh… Parker? Here’s your order. Did…? Umm… Do you need anything else?”

Parker twisted at the waist to face the younger bear. She made sure she had a bright smile on her face when she answered, “No, that’s perfect. But thank you for the offer.”

Serre gave Parker a concerned look and asked, “Are you sure?”

She could feel Remi starting to take a step forward, so she covertly used the pool cue to further block his path. Her smile didn’t falter at all as she replied, “Of course I am. I was going to hand Remi’s ass to him in a game of pool, but I guess he’ll get a reprieve while I eat.”

Parker then placed the cue back on the table where she had found it. When she had her back turned to Serre, she gave Remi a pleading look in the hopes that he would stay long enough to let her explain. Remi’s eyes softened slightly when he saw the sad look of concern on her face, but he made sure not to let his face change too much in order to keep from tipping off his brother. Parker hadn’t noticed any change in Remi’s demeanor, but she continued to force herself to smile. Reluctantly she turned away from Remi and moved towards the table where Serre had placed her food.

“It smells delicious,” she praised. “As usual.”

Serre gave her a proud smile replying, “That’s why it’s a house specialty. _Bon appetite._ ”

He then disappeared without appearing to have notice that anything was amiss between Remi and Parker. She quickly sat down at the table facing Remi because she didn’t want to extend the awkwardness between them by moving the chair to the other side. Remi remained in his place expecting Parker to start talking and was somewhat surprised when she remained silent. In fact, the only sounds that he heard for a full minute were those of her eating.

As she took a swig from her beer bottle, Remi noticed Parker try to wipe away a tear without being obvious. That was quickly followed up by a sniffle that she tried to cover up by blowing on her still too hot to eat food.

Hearing her too quiet for the human ear to perceive sniffle finally broke Remi out of his angry trance. He let out a sigh as all of the tension left his body. By this time Parker was no longer eating and was just pushing a crawfish around her plate with her fork. He slumped even further as he started to walk towards where Parker was seated, still playing absentmindedly with her food.

She didn’t acknowledge him, but in reality she was so lost in thought that she hadn’t noticed him. He watched her push the same crawfish around her plate no less than three times before he placed a soft hand over hers to still it. He thought that she would turn to look at him, but she instead just stared at her forgotten food after she had dropped her fork into the bowl.

She sniffled again, only this time she did nothing to cover it up. He squeezed her hand he had been holding. She still refused to look over at him. In fact, other than her pulse beating under his fingers, Remi felt no movement from her at all.

“Parker…” He started softly.

“We don’t want anyone to know about us yet,” she quietly interrupted. “We agreed that we didn’t want anyone to know about us until we know what this thing between us is all about. I just… I was… it was just a warning, that’s all.”

“I know Parker,” he replied in a soothing voice. “And you’re right, we did agree to all of that. It just… well my past…”

“I’m not Becca,” she interjected in a soft voice. She felt him startle in his spot beside her. When he started to withdraw his hand, she quickly placed her free hand over his to sandwich his hand between both of hers. She then turned to face him and added, “I know all about what happened with her and Quinn. I… you… I… I want you to remember I’m not her and that isn’t us. I really was just trying to warn you about Serre because of our agreement.”

He gave her a half smile replying, “Yeah I get that now, but in the moment… I’m sorry Parker it sounded like something not good.”

“Yeah I can see that…” She then speared the last remaining crawfish with her fork. She then lifted it up to his lips and waited until he started eating it before she continued. “But I’m a one bear woman. There’s no one else here that I want to spend any kind of one on one time with other than you.”

He chewed his food and then swallowed it. He raised a questioning brow asking, “Really? Not even Aimée or Dev?”

“Nope, not even them.” She giggled and pecked as kiss to his lips. She knew he didn’t believe her answer so she clarified as she started to dig into her meal once again. “Aimée is way too into her over protective Momma-Bear mode. I sneezed while we were shopping for baby stuff the other day and she almost called 911 because she thought it might be the Avian Flu or the Bubonic Plague. You laugh, but she was totally serious.” She then took a long pull from her beer bottle and then re-established direct eye contact with Remi. “As for Dev… Have you ever been on the receiving end of an Amazon’s suspicious glare?” She shuddered in her place and truly wished that it was for effect and not an unconscious reaction to her memory of the day she had seen that look on Samia’s face. “Believe me I never want to be on the receiving end of what that look promises. Now, the two of them together and it just being the three of us? That my friend would be a different story.”

He chuckled softly and scooped up a forkful of food. He started to lift it to her lips but before she could eat it, he diverted his course and swallowed it down himself. Parker tried to glare at him, but ended up laughing instead.

“Mean,” she teased as she watched him reload the fork. That mouthful he presented to her and after she had swallowed it she added, “Now that’s much better.”

She finished her last swallow of beer while she watched him help himself to more of her Jambalaya. She was starting to feel slightly schizophrenic because of her rapidly changing emotions, but for him she was willing to go through the whole gambit of human emotions. She thought that everything was alright between them, but she wanted to be sure, which prompted her to quietly ask, “So does that mean that I’m forgiven?”

He had just put in a mouthful of food and looked like he was almost in pain as he swallowed so that he could answer, “Of course you are because you have nothing to apologize for… but… What about me?”

“Nope,” she retorted with a cheeky grin. “You’re in big trouble Mister. Eating up all of my Jambalaya like that.”

Remi let out the breath he was holding and chuckled softly. He lifted the last forkful of food to her lips and she took it with a smile. Remi watched as she slowly chewed her food and prolonged her enjoyment of her last bite for as long as was humanly possible. The second that he saw her swallow her food, Remi leaned forward and captured her lips in a tender kiss. Her arms easily wrapped themselves around his neck as she readily reciprocated the embrace. Without slacking on the intensity or breaking the embrace, Parker crawled into Remi’s lap to straddle it. As she moved, her skirt rode up and she couldn’t stop the involuntary shiver she felt run down her spine when he felt the denim of his pants rub against her bare flesh. His hands ran up her legs to the small of her back where he slipped his hands under the hem of her shirt so that he could massage her back while they continued to kiss.

He found a sensitive part of her back that caused Parker to disconnect her mouth from his so that she could let out a contented moan. Knowing that he alone had caused Parker to make that sound, Remi redoubled his efforts of massaging her flesh and moved his lips down to her neck. She threw her head back so that it would be easier for him to access that part of her body. He was all too happy to oblige and soon enough his soft kisses turned into gentle bites against her flesh.

Parker almost couldn’t handle the level of excitement that Remi’s touch caused her to feel. Her hips started to swivel back and forth in a circular motion against his midsection while her hands buried themselves into his hair. At first she wasn’t sure if she wanted to push him away of if she wanted to pull him in closer to her, so she opted just to keep him where he was and to let him do whatever he wanted to do to her and her body.

Remi felt his body starting to react to Parker’s ministrations. He kissed his way up to her ear and captured her earlobe between his teeth. She moaned deep in her throat once again as the movement of her hips stuttered slightly at the new rush of ecstasy that ran through her body.

“I thought I told you this was a family restaurant,” he breathed against her ear.

Her moaning turned into an almost painful groan when he teased her by gently tugging on her earlobe between his teeth again. “Your… your… fault…” She struggled to reply through her excited breaths.

Her shivering intensified when he chuckled softly against the shell of her ear. “Very true. How about we take this somewhere more private?”

Parker could only nod in response. Remi then moved her arms so that they were wrapped around his neck and moved her legs as he whispered, “Well then, hold on tight.”

She had started to kiss random parts of his face until she felt him start to move her legs around his waist. She suddenly sat up straighter and looked him in the eyes to worriedly ask, “Are you going to teleport us there?”

He shook his head and kissed her lips again. “No, the place I’m thinking of is close enough to walk.”

He started kissing her again and swallowed the surprised squeak she uttered. She tightened her hold on his body as he walked away from the table where they had been seated. True to his word it didn’t take long before she heard a door close and all of the sounds of the pub were silenced.

When she heard the ‘click’ of the door closing, Parker opened her eyes to see where Remi had taken her in such a short time. When she took in their surroundings her lips slowed down until they finally stopped moving. Remi continued to practically attack her mouth, even after her lips stopped warring with his.

It took Remi a couple of seconds before he noticed that Parker’s mouth had gone completely slack. When he did, he stopped immediately so that he could pull his head back to look at her.

“Are you okay Parker?”

Now that she was free to do so, Parker moved her head to look around the room before she whispered, “Is this THE closet?”

He almost laughed at how Parker once again was whispering as if someone might overhear her and that she might get into trouble. “Well it is A closet. How do you know about it?”

“Dev used to tease me when I was younger and say that maybe when I was all grown up that I might find out what happens in here. Etienne added once that if I was pretty enough when I was older that he’d be happy to give me a tour.”

“Oh he did, did he?” Remi asked as his neck started to turn red.

Parker squeezed her legs around his waist and kissed him softly on the lips to help ease his mind. With her lips still hovering over his she whispered, “Don’t worry, Zar heard them teasing me and he told me the truth. I didn’t talk to either of them for a week because I was so made at them for trying to embarrass me like that.”

“You did?” He asked before he gave her a couple of slow, sensuous kisses. “You were one smart teenager.”

She snorted out a laugh before he could kiss her again and then she tucked her head under his chin and said, “Actually I was only eleven.”

She sat back to look at Remi’s face so that she could see his reaction. She had expected him to be annoyed, but instead she saw him trying to stifle a laugh. When he saw her worried face he finally did sputter out a low chuckle.

“I misspoke. You were one smart pre-teen. Although, in my opinion it’s always a good idea to give Dev and Etienne the cold shoulder.”

Parker barked out a laugh as she playfully slapped his chest. “You think it’s a good idea to give everyone the cold shoulder. Well everyone but Aimée and… uhh…”

“Yeah, I never want to piss off my sister too much… or Acheron.”

It took Parker a couple of seconds to register Remi’s joke before she replied in mock anger, “No, you don’t want to piss off the two of them. But the woman in your arms, she’s…”

He silenced her with a kiss and said, “She’s someone I always want to keep happy.”

Parker was grinning at that comment until she felt him start to loosen her grip on his body. She was too stunned to talk and did nothing to stop him from placing her feet on the ground. She started to frown until he took her hand in his and gave her an encouraging smile.

Before she could voice her concerns, Remi explained his actions saying, “I’m sorry, but the mood is kind of ruined in here. Why don’t we head to my room?”

“No, someone could come looking for you there and interrupt us… same with my room.”

“That’s true. Do you have any suggestions?” He asked as he moved behind her to wrap her in a hug.

Parker placed her head on his chest while she gave his question some serious thought. “Well… if we’re teleporting then we can go pretty much anywhere, right?”

He leaned down to start kissing her neck and answered with his lips still against her flesh. “So long as it isn’t too crowded…. And I can picture it in my mind.”

“Do that mean you can’t take us somewhere unless you’ve been there before?” Parker asked as she wriggled out of his hold so that she could turn to face him while they talked.

Remi raised his right hand to her face and gently started to stroke her hair answering, “It makes it easier if I’ve been there, but no it isn’t mandatory.”

“Oh… okay.” She dipped her head down and bit her lip demurely before she added, “There’s a place in the Bayou… it’s totally secluded. Now I’ve never really been there, but I’ve been told that I can hang out there any time that I want and that I could move my Dark-Hunter in there if they need a place… well when I get my own Hunter that is.”

Remi used his bent index finger to lift Parker’s chin and forced her to look at him. “Are you talking about Talon’s cabin Parker?”

“Yeah, actually I am. But… but if it’s too weird, then I understand. I’m sure we can think of somewhere else to go.”

He chuckled then answered, “No, it actually sounds pretty perfect.” And I have been there, so it should be no problem to get there safe.”

He then leaned down to kiss Parker deeply. She once again wrapped her arms around him and hugged him to her body. Remi kept his finger tangled in her hair while he continued to ravish her mouth.

Parker felt the air around them change, like a soft wind manifested from nowhere. She once again felt a familiar light-headedness that accompanied every trip she had taken with a Were-Hunter via teleportation. Although that sensation could also have been attributed to the things that Remi was doing to her with his lips and tongue.

She slowly opened her eyes and when she saw that they were in a small cabin she actually started to laugh into Remi’s mouth. He immediately pulled back so that he could give her a disbelieving, somewhat annoyed look.

“That was… I’m sorry, it’s just…” She chuckled again while she tried to collect her thoughts. “For a second I was trying to remember if I had the keys Talon gave me or not, but I guess those weren’t needed.”

“No, they weren’t,” he replied with a soft laugh. “Was there something else on your mind Parker?”

She gave him a cheeky smile while she replied, “I was wondering if the kissing helps you teleport. I read somewhere that sex helps Were-Hunters to recharge their mojo, so does the kissing help too?”

He leaned into her as if he was going to kiss her again, but he stopped just short of reclaiming her lips. “It isn’t mandatory, but it sure does make the trip more fun.”

He then picked her up at the waist so that he could lay claim to her lips. Parker quickly wrapped her arms around his neck and gasped into his mouth when she felt her bare flesh press against his naked chest. When he felt her trying to wrap her legs around his waist, he moved one hand to the back of her head while he used the other to adjust himself so that they would join their bodies together in the most intimate way possible. Her hands moved to his shoulders where her nails started to dig into his flesh when she felt him thrust his entire length into her body. Remi then moved his hands to her waist so that he could help her move up and down his length. She was amazed that he could stay standing and moved her hands onto his shoulders to help give her more leverage.

It didn’t take long for Remi’s ministrations to bring Parker to her first apex. She finally moved her mouth away from his so that she could scream out in ecstasy. He let out a breathy chuckle at how vocal she could be during sex because most of the time she seemed to be mild mannered and somewhat demure. He also felt his knees start to buckle as he felt her canal convulse around his still painfully hard member. HE then slowly carried her over to the bed and managed not to leave her body as he laid her down.

Once her back came into contact with the mattress, Parker released her hold on Remi’s neck and threw her arms over her head. Remi planted his hands against the bed just over Parker’s shoulders and then started to thrust himself in and out of her at a much quicker pace. Parker’s hands tried to find the headboard but when she found there was none, she flipped her hands over so that she could hold the edge of the mattress in a death grip. Her fingers dug into the material under them so hard that it almost hurt, but then Remi pushed her over the edge again and her body was only feeling the erotic sensations of her orgasm and her pain was completely forgotten. When Remi felt Parker climax again, he finally allowed himself to reach completion with one final hard thrust.

After his body had gone completely slack, Remi shifted onto his side and cuddled in beside Parker. She forced herself to roll onto her side so that she could look at him. Parker then placed an arm over his waist and used it to pull herself closer to him so that they could share a couple of soft embraces.

They were both too spent to try to take their kissing beyond a few soft pecks and eventually they just let their head fall to the pillow. Remi then moved onto his back and wrapped an arm around Parker to help her snuggle into his side. She placed her head on his chest and started to pet the length of his torso. He pushed her hair out of the ways so that he could run his fingertips up and down her spine at the same pace that she was stroking his side.

“You know, the whole using magic to make our clothes disappear is fun and all, but…” She pushed herself up so that she could look down at him as she added, “Sometimes I like to unwrap my presents.”

 


	9. Chapter 8

Over the course of the next week, Parker and Remi tried to get away together any chance that they could get. Unfortunately, those opportunities were becoming more and more rare and harder to find because Parker had started her new job at ‘Dream Dolls & Accessories’. That meant that she was spending less time at Sanctuary, which in turn meant that she was seeing Remi less frequently than she would have preferred.

Remi seemed to be just as bothered by this new development because he had popped into the doll store more than once to surprise Parker. By the second day they had established (without having to discuss it) that they would spend her lunch time together. She would call him from the alley behind the store when she started her break and then he would teleport there so that he could take her somewhere to be alone. Their new hideaway of choice was Talon’s old cabin in the Bayou and Remi usually took them there without having to talk it over with Parker. Since they were travelling so frequently via teleportation, Parker’s body was starting to actually get used to it and it was getting to the point where she felt little to no ill effects from it anymore.

After her training at the store was complete, Parker renegotiated a new schedule with the doll makers. She could feasibly make a stock of blades or any blades for pre-orders for them to use even if she was only doing the job part-time. She would also keep herself ‘on-call’ for any orders where a specialty blade was required. She figured that way she was getting the job done, but she wouldn’t get in their way as much since they had an established rhythm that worked well for them. She also reasoned that when she got her own Hunter she wouldn’t be able to work full time with them either so it would be good to get used to her not being around them all of the time. What she didn’t tell any of her new co-workers was that this would also meant that she could also work part-time at the bar, which of course meant that she would get to see Remi more often. Win, win in her books.

Aimée had told Parker that she didn’t have to worry about working at the bar, but Parker truly was a bit of a social butterfly, so she really needed that type of social interaction in her life to help keep her somewhat sane. The ladies that she had met who were the doll makers preferred to work in silence and seemed to get annoyed whenever she tried to strike up a conversation with them. Granted she was usually just dropping off her latest batch of blades to them when she tried to chat and she herself forged the blades in silence, but still it made it hard for her and that was another reason she was happy that she was only working there part-time. (She also didn’t let herself think about how her leaving when they had breaks might be alienating herself from them as well because she was spending that time with the person her truly wanted to be around.)

Today Parker was smiling brightly because today was her day to work at Sanctuary. Since moving to New Orleans she had purchased quite a few more skirts to wear for when she was waitressing. Today she was dressed in a grey jersey knit skirt, a black ‘Sanctuary’ t-shirt and finished off her outfit with a pair of black and white Keds sneakers. She was comfortable and felt cute while she weaved her way from one table to the next.

Remi would covertly watch Parker in the dining room every change that he could. Thankfully today he found himself at the stage helping his brother Cody moving equipment around to prepare for the Howlers playing a gig that night. Cody only had eyes for the equipment, so he was completely oblivious to the fact that his brother was watching a certain waitress instead of the wires and tools that were in his hands.

“They really liked the levels we had everything at last week,” Cody commented as he plugged in an amplifier to a power bar. “So I was thinking we’d just duplicate all of that for tonight.”

“Yeah… sure… sounds good,” Remi replied, only half listening to his brother speaking.

Cody didn’t notice that Remi sounded distracted in anyway. He was used to his brother being short with him or just ignoring what he said completely and he was actually just relieved that the older bear wasn’t biting his head off for some perceived slight or something that he hadn’t done. Remi could be surly and some people found him hard to work with, but Cody found that everything went smoothly and he finished his tasks much more quickly when he had someone to help him and Remi definitely could do the job in a pinch.

The two bears soon fell silent as they continued to work. For Cody part of the charm of working with Remi was that he could give his brother a job to complete and Remi would do it with there being little to no discussion. That meant that Cody could get everything done faster and play with the sound levels so that they would be perfect well before the time the band arrived to set up and do their sound checks.

As usual Cody kept his head down and his eyes on the amplifier he was working on until he heard his brother hiss in a long breath. Cody’s head automatically snapped up, but he watched Remi drop his tools to the stage floor in a horrified silence. He was afraid to say anything because if Remi had cut himself on the screwdriver he was using, he would turn it into him being mad at Cody for accusing him of being clumsy. But in the next breath if he said and did nothing and his brother was seriously hurt, he’d get his ass handed to him by his sister for not doing everything in his powers to help Remi in his time of need. He knew he was caught between a rock and a hard place, but remaining silent and as invisible as possible while he assessed the situation still felt like the wisest choice at this moment in time.

Remi hissed in another loud breath as he grabbed his left wrist with his right hand. He looked like he was trying to keep his hand completely immobile, almost as if to keep a wound from opening up even further, as he scrambled away from the sound equipment he had been working on. Thankfully his moving put him closer to Cody so that the younger bear could sneak a peek at Remi’s hand without having to bother his brother by asking him about what was wrong.

“Fuck… fuck…” Remi mumbled as he settled into his spot by his brother.

At first Cody couldn’t see what was causing Remi to curse, but then Remi opened his hand up to blow on his palm as if it had been burned. Seeing that his brother was completely preoccupied, Cody leaned over so that he could get a closer look. When Remi’s palm came into focus, he unconsciously sucked in a breath and regretted making that noise. Unfortunately, just as Cody had predicted, that sound reminded Remi that he wasn’t alone. His face snapped around at a break neck speed and the look on his face cause Cody to jump up to his feet so that he could make a quick getaway on foot if the need arose (because with it being the day time he knew it wouldn’t be wise to teleport out of the stage area since so many of the human staff members knew that this is where he was working right now).

Remi kept his left hand carefully cradled against his chest with his right hand as he too got up to his feet. He slowly started to stalk his way towards his brother as he growled out in a low, incensed voice, “I thought I told you I would only help you if there were no live wires in play. I don’t have a death wish like you and our dumbass brother Griffe.”

Cody could tell that Remi was also keeping his voice low so that he could keep his voice as even as possible. That never lead to anything good, so he did his best to look as innocent as possible to hopefully keep the damage Remi was about to inflict to a minimum. He held his hands up in surrender and started backing away from Remi as slowly as he could to keep from spooking him.

As he moved, Cody said, “I swear Remi, nothing that you were working on has been plugged in, honest! I haven’t even gotten to that point yet!”

The older bear stopped when he was just an arm’s length away from his brother and shoved his hand in Cody’s face (just narrowly missing smashing the heel of his palm in the younger man’s nose) and asked with the same enraged tone as before, “Then what do you call this?”

“Well…” Cody started carefully as he tried to get his eyes to focus. Because it was so close it took a couple of seconds for that to happens and once Remi’s palm did come into focus, Cody’s eyes goggled and he started to inch away from Remi once again. “Well… if I had to hazard a guess… I’d… I’d… I’d say that you’ve been mated.”

“What? That’s imp…” He stopped himself there and turned his hand back to face himself. Now that the pain was gone he was able to concentrate enough to make out the intricate design that had suddenly appeared on his flesh. The edges of the lines looked sharper and more angular than the markings that he had seen on his parents or siblings and their mates, but he most definitely could tell that his mating mark was of a paw with its claws poised for an attack. Remembering all of the times that Parker had teased him that she was going to use him as her own personal attack dog… or rather attack bear, on anyone that even looked at her the wrong way, Remi sputtered out a soft laugh. No taking his eyes off of the new mark, he absentmindedly asked, “Do you know what this means?”

Cody jumped back another foot when he heard Remi laugh because that was such a foreign sound to hear from his brother. “Umm… that… uhh… That I should congratulate you?”

Remi didn’t actually wait for his brother to finish his reply before he turned around and literally ran out the stage door towards the restaurant. Toady wasn’t one of their busier lunch crowds so it didn’t take long for him to find Parker in the dining room. As she did anytime that there was a lull in the action, Parker was standing by a table of regulars, chatting away. One of the men said something that caused Parker to throw her head back to let out a loud, full bellied laugh. When Remi saw that he initially saw red and started to stalk towards the table with the intention of cracking some skulls. Luckily for the human targets of his wrath, Parker flipped her hair so that more of her blue streaks were visible which brought the bear’s full attention back to her and completely extinguished his rage.

She was so focused on her conversation that she hadn’t noticed that Remi had entered the room, let alone that he was making his way towards her. At least not until one of the patrons suddenly fell silent mid-sentence and looked like he was trying to shrink back in his chair with his eyes wide open in fear. Parker’s brow furrowed into a frown and she opened her mouth to speak, but she too ended up being silenced by the approaching bear.

Remi had complete tunnel vision as soon as he had Parker in his sights. He didn’t notice the humans cowering in their booths as he passed they by, he had no idea that the other Were-Hunters in the bar were gearing up not only for a fight, but also to do some major damage control and he most certainly the patron that was too stunned to properly try to warn Parker about the potential threat who was approaching and was almost right behind her.

Parker had opened her mouth to speak, but at the same time someone’s hand landed on her shoulder to spin her around. Parker didn’t have enough time to register his face before Remi’s lips completely engulfed her own. Since she didn’t know who it was that was trying to ravish her in front of everybody in the middle of the pub, Parker started to struggle against him immediately. Remi was too task driven to notice Parker’s disinterest until one of her fists landed a fairly forceful punch into his groin.

He finally flinched before she could try to refocus any of her punching to cause any further damage to such a sensitive part of his body. He also used his preternatural speed to catch her flailing hands which in turn caused to her to finally take a good look at his face. The instant that she recognized Remi’s face, Parker lost all of the fight in her and her arms and hands went completely limp in his still tight enough to bruise hold.

She bent her arms at the elbows as she took a step forward so that she could very quietly ask, “Remi? What are you doing? I thought that we agreed…”

He dipped down to kiss her again which interrupted her questions. After he released her lips he rested his forehead again hers and whispered, “It’s okay Parker, now no one can split us up… ever.”

“What?” She asked sounding thoroughly confused as he shifted his grip so that he could lace the fingers of his left hand with those of her right.

Before their palms could touch, Remi once again shifted his hold on her hand so that he could brush his thumb over her palm. “Because of these, we can’t be separated.”

Remi leaned down to kiss her again, but Parker flinched back and took a large step away from him. The only thing that kept her from getting more than one arm’s length away was Remi’s grip on her hand. He then refocused his attention to her hand that he was holding. After flipping it over he placed a long, lingering, open mouthed kiss to the back of it.

“What are you doing Remi?” Parker asked quietly while her eyes frantically moved around to look at the growing crowd that was now watching only them. “Remi? What happened to keeping this between just the two of us? Why are you doing this…? And why now?”

Parker’s voice cracked at the end of her last question which cause Remi’s eyes to snap up to her face. He opened his mouth to reply, but her eyes kept moving from face to face around the room and she absolutely refused to look at him which silenced him for the moment. He went back to kissing their entwined fingers until Parker’s eyes finally landed and stayed on him. While she watched him embracing her fingers, a single involuntary tear slipped out of her eye and trickled slowly down her cheek. He watched it land on the back of her hand, so then he decided to try to switch gears.

“Parker we don’t have to keep this to ourselves anymore. These…” He paused there to once again flip her hand over. He then slowly moved his hand away to reveal her palm. At first it was slow and sensuous, but then suddenly he snatched her hand up to get a closer look at it as he asked, “Wait… wait! Where is it?!”

“What? My tattoo?” Parker retorted sounding utterly confused. “Remi, it’s on my left wrist. You know that… don’t you?”

“No! Not a tattoo,” he replied, no starting to sound angry. “No! Where’s…? Where’s your…? Why isn’t it…?”

It wasn’t often that Parker had ever seen Remi completely lost for words and it was even less likely that anyone sounded so much like her, so Parker immediately tried to get him back on track so that she could find out what all of this was about. “Remi I don’t understand. What…?” Just then she caught a glimpse of something on his palm. She then snatched his hand up and said in a tone of utter disbelief, “Your…? You…? Oh gods… you’ve been…?”

Before even trying to finish one of the thousands of thoughts that were rapidly racing through her mind, Parker dropped his hand and turned to run away. Even without seeing Remi’s hand, pretty much every Were-Hunter in the room could guess what Parker had seen gracing Remi’s flesh. Even more obvious to them, as shocking as that news was to them, was Parker’s reaction to having been shown it. No one, even in their wildest dreams, would have guessed that the two of them, that Parker and Remi of all people, would ever find themselves in the position to actually become mated to each other.

The first person to break out of their stunned state was Aimée. At first she started to follow Parker’s route towards the kitchen, but just as quickly she stopped and looked back at her brother. Say what you want about the surly, short-tempered bear, he was her brother and she loved him fiercely. No matter what he did or said to her to tease or annoy her, he was her big brother and she would always remember the times when he had quietly helped to put Band Aids on her cuts or where he was there to lead the charge to put an unwanted Romeo in his place when she had made it clear his advances were definitely not being well received. Even without all of that, she would love him simply because they were kin, so seeing the devastated look on his face was like a punch to the gut for the bearswan and she wanted to do nothing more than to erase it as soon as possible.

She was torn and couldn’t decide whose side she should rush to in order to offer them her support. She watched as Parker literally pushed pass Dev, who was trying to stop her at the doorway to the kitchen to ask her if she was alright. Parker had never shrugged off anyone that was trying to offer her comfort, least of all Dev. Dev was like a big brother to the human and on more than one occasion she had actually sought him out over anyone else for a hug or words of encouragement.

Seeing Parker ignore her favorite bear, well at least Aimée had always thought that he was before she saw Remi kiss the younger female, had helped Aimée to make up her mind. She moved to follow Parker but then she heard a low growl emanating from her brother's lips. Remi kept his eyes laser focused on Parker until the kitchen door closed and she could no longer be seen. Once the door closed off his view of Parker, Remi let out another low growl and then he turned to move towards the exit door on the opposite side of the room that would lead to another alleyway.

Aimée once again found herself feeling torn and just stared at the two different paths that she could follow. She remained caught up in her own thoughts until she heard one of that patrons that Parker had been joking around with say, "Dude, I told you that there was no way that a girl that hot would be single."

"Yeah, but the scary one? There's no way any of us could have predicted that one! I guess she really can tame even the wildest of beasts."

Aimée suddenly thought that maybe she should be checking on their few customers to make sure that they weren't put off by the scene that had played out before them. That concern was squashed nearly as quickly as it had formed because the men started laughing at each others' jokes, returned to eating their food, and acted as if nothing out of the norm had happened. They didn't seem to be bothered in the least, so she turned her thoughts back to which person that she loved that she should be following right now.

Much to Aimée's relief, Dev had made his way to her side and he led her back to the bar asking, "Did I miss something? Why is Parker sprinting to her room in tears?" Just then they heard the exit door being slammed closed loudly. "And why is Remi...? Wait, scratch that. Who or what has pissed Remi off now? And how hard is it going to be to calm him down?"

Aimée let out a soft laugh because Dev had voiced the questions that would be on anyone's mind that hadn't witnessed the scene that caused this fallout. She took a deep breath and then answered, "Remi has been mated."

"What? Seriously?" He looked towards the closed exit door and then turned his eye back to his sister and added, "Okay so he's annoyed at who he's been mated to, nothing new there, but why is Parker so upset?"

"Well, I'm not completely sure, but..." She pulled Dev by the arm through the kitchen until they were alone in the alley that lead to Peltier House. Once she was assured that they were alone she said, "I'm pretty sure that both of them were expecting Parker to have a mating mark too."

Dev scowled then asked, "What?"

Feeling a little bit annoyed that she was going to have to spell this out for her brother, Aimée gave Dev an exasperated look then slowly stated, "Remi has a mating mark and he was expecting that Parker would have a matching one but she doesn't... and now both of them are pretty emotional. Come on Dev, I know you know what that means."

She smacked her brother's arm when she thought that he was being intentionally obtuse. He grabbed his arm protesting her abuse with a loud, "Ouch! What the hell?"

"Dev, please..."

"No, no I get it Aims," he interrupted when he saw her getting visibly upset. "I understand what you're getting at, but please do excuse me while I have an aneurysm at the thought of Parker and Remi together... like 'getting it on' together. Tell me you don't think that's more than a little weird."

"Of course I..." Aimée started before she forced herself to give his words some thought. "Okay, I guess that it could seem kind of odd, but then again.... then again they've kind of become friends, so y'know maybe it really shouldn't come as that much of a surprise to us... maybe."

"They have? Really? But fu... umm anyways, I guess someone needs to check in with them," Dev answered sounding quite pensive.

Aimée gave him a sympathetic smile and then said, "My thoughts exactly. That's why I was on my way to go check on Parker when I ran into you."

She then moved to walk around her brother, but he caught her arm as he replied, "Oh I don't think so sister. There's no way that I can say anything to Remi that won't end up with him at least trying to deck me."

"Yeah, but..." Aimée looked up into Dev's pleading eyes and then said, "Fine... I'll go talk to Remi. But you better be careful with our Cub!"

"I hadn't planned on being anything but supportive," he retorted before he disappeared in the blink of an eye.

Aimée placed a hand on her protruding belly as a further reminder of why she couldn’t do the same thing. The little life, or lives, growing inside of her most likely wouldn’t survive during any teleportation, so she had no other option but to walk from one alley to the next.

Yes, there were days when she was beyond super annoyed that she couldn’t use all of her Were-Hunter abilities, but for the life that was growing inside of her she was willing to suffer. She and Fang had been through so much together already and she was beyond excited to face this new challenge with him. But then again giving birth to an expression of their love really didn’t feel like such a daunting task. Their child truly was an expression of their love and she could only wish that everyone could be as lucky as her, Dev and their parents and be mated to their true love match.

Aimée had a smile on her face because of that last thought, but it quickly faded. Obviously Remi had feelings for Parker and had expected for him to be mated to his love march, but he wasn’t. So how would he react to his obviously pregnant sister seeking him out to talk to him about it? She was sure that she would be negatively received, but on the other hand she couldn’t just sit back and do nothing either.

Before she pushed the exit door open, she took in a deep breath to help center herself. She still had no idea what she was going to say to Remi, but she was sure that something would come to her once she saw him. At least that was what she hoped.

“Hey Remi, I…” She started to say as soon as she started opening the door. “I know this…” She stopped herself there because Remi wasn’t anywhere to be seen in the alley.

She spent a couple of minutes making sure that he wasn’t just in an alcove or somewhere that wasn’t visible from the door. She triple checked each area that someone could hide in before she abandoned her search. There was a chance that he had made himself invisible because he didn’t want to talk to his sister and if that was the case she knew that she couldn’t force him to reveal himself to her. But Aimée still wanted to make sure that he knew she was there for him whenever he was ready to talk.

“Remi?” She said to the open air of the alley. “You aren’t alone in this, Big Brother, we’re all here to help.”

Aimée waited in the alley for a minute to give him a chance to reveal himself, but there was no change. She then moved towards the door to the pub, but before she went inside she said, “You know where to find me when you’re ready to talk.”

Dev stood at Parker’s closed bedroom door and pressed his ear to it to try to listen to what was happening inside. Much to his surprise there wasn’t much for him to hear. It sounded like Parker was moving around her room but she didn’t sound as frantic or upset as he had expected. He could hear her sniffle from time to time, but other than that he wouldn’t have known that she was actually inside her room.

He knocked softly on her door as he called out, “Parker? Cub? Can I come in and talk with you?”

Dev received no response so he knocked again, but this time a little bit louder. He was just about to yell out again to her when her door creaked open. He waited a couple of seconds for Parker to reply but he once again only heard the sound of footsteps and the occasional sniffle. With a gentle hand he pushed her door open even further and then he just stood in a stunned silence at the scene that was playing out before him.

Other than opening the door for him, Parker did nothing to acknowledge his presence. She had retrieved two of her suitcases from the closet and was piling clothes up on her beside them. She was mumbling to herself and looked like she was trying to control her actions and not give into her anger just yet.

“Are you going on a trip Parker?”

She briefly looked over her shoulder before she scoffed loudly and replied snidely, “Like you really give a shit.”

“Cub, of course I care,” Dev said sounding truly hurt.

Parker slumped in her place because she realized that she had snapped angrily at the wrong brother. That realization was quickly followed up by a loud sob. She had wanted to hold onto her anger because it was easier for her to accomplish what needed to be done with it guiding her. But she didn’t want to direct her anger at anyone that didn’t deserve it. Dev definitely did not fall into the ‘deserves it’ category because he would never do anything to hurt her, at least not intentionally. Even when he teased her it was always in good fun and never unduly harsh or cruel.

Another sob escaped her lips, so she threw her hands over her face and sat down on her bed while she continued to cry. Dev could see that she was no longer able to control her emotions, so he gave her a couple of minutes to cry and get the worst of it out. The last time he had seen Parker like this was just after her mother had passed away. At the time he had found that she couldn’t talk about her feelings until after she had had a good, cleansing cry.

Once her sobbing had settled down some, Dev approached her cautiously. He gently touched her shoulder and quietly said, “Cub, I know…”

“Don’t,” she interrupted as she smacked his hand away. “I can’t talk to you about this.”

Although he was shocked by her actions and tone of voice, Dev tried not to let it show. “I know it isn’t the most comfortable topic to talk about, but I’m here for you. Just like I always have been, I’m here to listen Cub.”

“I’m sorry Dev, but I can’t,” she repeated with her hands still covering her face.

Dev sat down on the bed beside her and wrapped an arm around her shoulder as she tried again saying, “Sure you can. You didn’t think that you would be able to tell me about you crush on Talon, but you did. Just like you did back then, you just have to take your time. I’m in no hurry to be anywhere else.”

Parker threw Dev’s arm off of her and stood up off the bed. He noticed that she kept her eyes closed and then she kept her back turned to him. Tears wanted to spring up into his eyes because he had no idea what to do next. Normally he would hug her while she cried and then once her tears had subsided, she would cuddle into his side and talk it out. But that was when she was a little girl and he had to remind himself that she was a woman now who obviously didn’t react the same way that she did back then.

“Parker…”

“Don’t you get it Dev? I can’t talk to YOU about this,” she interrupted as she walked away from him. She sat down on the chair by her vanity, rested her elbows on her knees and hid her face in her hands again. “You look just like him. If I talk… it’s almost like… so I… I can’t. Gods! You’re my best friend and I love you, but at the same time I just want to punch you in the face… so hard… because it’s his face too.”

Parker had started to cry again into her hands. Dev wanted to get up and give her a hug, but he forced himself to go against his instincts. What she had said about it being hard to look at him made sense to him, so he tried his best to respect her wishes.

“Well Cub, if it would make you feel better, then you are more than welcome to punch me as hard as you can or want,” Dev offered in a humorous tone.

Parker sputtered out a laugh through her tears. She kept her face securely planted in her palms as she replied, “You’re not funny.”

Dev smiled to himself because Parker was still chuckling during her reply. He then stood up and walked over to Parker’s side. She didn’t move or acknowledge him, so he leaned down and kissed the top of her head. She shivered in her spot and continued to sniffle in a few breaths.

“I love you too Cub and…”

“Dev, please…”

“No, wait. Please just one minute Parker,” he interrupted in a calm yet forceful tone. “I love you too and I won’t force you to talk to me or look at my ugly mug.”

“Dev,” she whined out with another soft laugh.

“See? I AM funny. And I mean it, I won’t push,” he said as he stepped behind her and squeezed her shoulders. “But you know that after I leave here Aimée will have questions and when I don’t have answers…”

“She’ll…’ Parker tried to say but then she sputtered in a breath and had to swallow a sob. Parker took her hands away from her face and put them down at her sides and held the seat on either side of her thighs in a death grip. “She’ll come to get them herself. Oh gods… this has all gotten so fucked up, I… I… I’m not even sure… I mean what can I even say to her? To you?”

He squeezed her shoulders and kissed the back of her head again. “Cub, we just want what’s best for you. All you have to tell us is the truth. We don’t care how ugly it is, okay?”

“Okay,” she replied as she placed her hands over his to give them a grateful pat. “Okay… but Dev?”

He squeezed her shoulders again and leaned his head down and answered quietly, “What is it, Cub?”

“Can you…? I mean I know she probably won’t listen, but… could you ask her to give me a couple of minutes before she comes in? I just want… I need some time to get my thoughts together.”

He wrapped his arms around her neck to give her a hug. Parks arms immediately molded themselves over his forearms. Dev smothered a smile into her hair because it was such a familiar gesture. He truly did understand why it was hard for her to look at any of his brothers who were an identical quadruplet to Remi, but he was also genuinely worried that he was on the verge of losing a close friend. Now that she had returned his loving and comforting gesture, Dev had hope that everything was going to turn out alright, no matter how long it took to return to relative normal.

“I’ll try my best Cub, but now promises,” he replied softly against her hair.

Parker barked out a quiet laugh as she sniffed in a breath. "That's all that I can ask."

After another tight squeeze of her neck, Dev move to let Parker go so that he could intercept his sister. Parker, however, wasn't ready to let him go just yet. As his grip loosened on her neck, hers tightened on his forearms. He froze in his spot to allow Parker to cling to him for as long as she needed to right now.

"Thank you Dev," she finally whispered as she continued to hold onto him. A couple of tears dripped onto his arm. "I know I sound like a crazy person, but seeing that's he's been... it was so unexpected so I’m... I think I’m like in shock or something, so thank you for being so patient with me. I'm really sorry that I’m being such a pain in the ass."

"You don't need to apologize, Cub. I can't even imagine what you are going through. I mean kissing Remi should have been enough to make you comatose."

"Dev!" She nearly shouted with a laugh. "Stop making me laugh. I want to be grumpy right now."

"And you have every right to be grumpy. I'll go see if I can find Aimée and try to delay her for a bit. You relax and take your time, okay?"

Dev kissed her on her left temp as he hugged her tightly once again. She opened her mouth to say something else, but Dev disappeared without another word. She then closed her mouth and hugged her arms around her torso. If anyone could delay Aimée she was sure that Dev was her man... Err bear.

She looked around her room while she tried to take stock and get her thoughts in order. There were still so many unknowns in her life but she knew two things were true. One: she couldn't stay at Peltier House any longer. This was Remi's home and he would want to make a life with his mate here. Whomever that skank was, she probably wouldn't look to kindly on Parker for sleeping with her mate either. And two: she owed Aimée and Dev the truth. She hadn't been sneaking around with Remi for all that long, but she still hated that she hadn't been able to tell them about their relationship before it crashed and burned so spectacularly.

The first dilemma was quite a predicament. She wasn't exactly sure where she would go, but anywhere but here seemed like the simplest answer. Maybe she could call Talon and stay with him and Sunshine. But that would mean that she would have to explain why she had to leave Peltier House. Instead maybe she could call Acheron and seek refuge with him and Simi. He knew about their relationship and seem cool enough about it. He always just seemed to know stuff so she wouldn't have to explain all of the nitty gritty details to him. But what if his wife asked her for details? Or worse yet, Simi? She was sure that the little goth fairy would want to Bar-B-Que herself a bear. That is unless Parker could convince her otherwise. That would mean that she would have to tell them the truth or some version of it, which she still wasn't sure she knew how to put into words.

That brought her back to her second quandary. After struggling to find the words to cover up the truth, how was she going to take it all back? But more than that, how was she going to recant every untruthful work and still be able to retain her closest friends?

Thinking about it in those terms made that task feel like it was too daunting to accomplish. Because she had to do it, Parker knew that she was going to see it through, but that didn't stop her from wanting to succumb to her self doubt. Right now that mean that she would haphazardly toss the shirts that she had folded into a suitcase before dumping it just as carelessly onto the floor. With her bed now clear, she curled up on top of the covers to try to think of what she would say to Aimée when she finally made it up to her room. Well that was the plan, in reality she just curled up into a ball and continued to cry silently.

As luck would have it, Dev was able to catch Aimée before she made it to the stairs to the bedrooms. He really had no idea what he would say that would keep his sister from rushing up to Parker's side, so he came up with a different plan. If words were going to fail him then he hoped that actions wouldn't. That meant that instead of trying to talk circles around his sister to slow her down, Dev decided to give Aimée a task to complete to try to distract her.

After Aimée had brewed a pot of tea and warmed up some biscuits to eat, she carefully made her way up the stairs. Dev had suggested that having a hot beverage and food to eat would help to give them something to focus on during the inevitable and uncomfortable lulls in conversation. She wasn't entirely sure that he was right, but he had always been closer to Park than she had, so she was willing to default to his logic for now.

With the tray of food and beverages balanced on her left hand, Aimée carefully knocked on Parker's bedroom door. It took almost a full minute before Parker opened the door. Unlike when Dev knocked, Aimée found the human in the doorway after she had opened it to let the bear into her room.

"Dev said that you might need a little something to calm your nerves before you could talk," Aimée explained.

Parker snicked before she replied, "He wasn't wrong." She then looked down at the tray and noticed that there was no alcohol to be seen on it. She started to pout until she looked over the full contents of the tray. Her eyes then went wide as she asked, "Do you have biscuits and honey? Like your _Maman_ used to make? I missed those almost as much as the Jambalaya."

Aimée walked into Parker's room answering, "They most certainly are, but don't let Dev know about how much you've missed them because then he'll start gloating about how right he was and he'll get a big head."

Parker chuckled at Aimée's jok and pulle dup a chair beside her bed for the bear to sit on. After placing the tray on Parker's suspiciously clear night table, she sat down on the offered seat. Her eyes immediately started to survey the room to try to get a handle on the situation. Parker continued to move around the room almost as if Aimée wasn't even there.

Aimée watched as Parker placed a pile of neatly folded shirts into a suitcase and opened her mouth to question her. Parker didn't notice that her friend was concerned about what she was doing because she kept her eyes focused on her hands. That also meant that she didn't know that she was actually interrupting Aimée when she said, "I'm sorry I lied to you Aim. We... we only expected it to be a fling... no big deal, y'know? So we didn't want anyone else to know since... since it wasn't supposed to go anywhere...But I never meant to lie to any of you and "m really sorry that I did and that... that I hurt you. That wasn't my intention and I totally understand if you don't trust me anymore."

"Oh Cub, please don't be upset about that. If anyone knows about having to hide their relationship from the people they love, it's me," Aimée replied with a sad smile on her face. "And if that's the reason you're packing right now, you can stop. I won't condemn you for doing the same thing I had to do."

Parker paused and then held the pair of pants she was holding to her chest. "That's right, Fang's a wolf. I forgot... but that's... that's not why I’m leaving Aims... I mean, it was sort of part of it, but the bigger... umm... the real reason... This is his home and I'm just a guest here, so it only makes sense for me to leave. I'm sure that his mate won't really be to happy with seeing me around since he and I were... umm... since we..."

At that point Parker had started to cry again, so she stopped talking to try to keep her breathing as calm as possible. Although she had a thousand questions running through her mind that she wanted to ask Parker, Aimée remained silent for now. The bear sipped on her tea to remind herself to be patient and to let Parker take her time to explain everything. She then almost laughed when it occurred to her how right Dev had been about the tea and biscuits.

When it looked like Parker had calmed down considerably, Aimée placed her mug of tea back on the tray and asked, "Cub? Can I ask how the two of you ended up together? I mean I know that Rami said that you two had been spending time together while you cleaned up at night, but he didn't say that you were more than just becoming friends at all."

Parker kept her eyes fixed on her hands as a dark blush spread up her neck and across her cheeks. She continued packing, so Aimée thought that she was going to ignore her question, but in reality Parker couldn't find it in herself to look Aimée in the eye right now. She was embarrassed about lying and she still wasn't sure how she was going to explain everything.

"Wel..." Parker finally started slowly as she moved a bunch of clothes from a drawer to her bed. "I guess you could say that it's all my fault... that I started... umm... that I initiated it. After I talked with you and Dev about how I really got my stitches, I went to apologize to Remi. Since you had given explicit orders that I was to be on bed rest, he didn't really want to get into trouble with you for chatting with me, so he tried to just blow me off. Of course I wouldn't let him ignore me, so I kissed him to get him to pause for a second. That kind of lead to a make out session and then and then after that... well... any time that we were together, we couldn't just... y'know... talk. I don't know, it was weird... but anyways, soon enough one thing led to another and we've met up almost everyday for a little over a week now."

Aimée had started to scowl because she was listening so intently to Parker. When the human fell silent, the bear made sure to make a conscious effort to soften her expression before she said, "Parker, when you say that you two couldn't just talk, do you mean that you felt like compelled to touch each other?"

That question got Parker's attention and she finally paused to look over at Aimée as she replied, "Compelled? Yeah that would be a good way of describing it. It was just like... I don't know... when I saw him, I wanted... no like I had to touch him or I'd get like itchy or something." Parker shook her head and returned to folding her clothes. "It sounds crazy, I know but that's the truth."

"Parker? Are you sure you don't have a mating mark on your hand?"

Not sure if Aimée was joking or not, Parker stopped again and looked up at the bear. Immediately Parker could see that Aimée was being completely earnest, so she pushed her feelings of hurt and anger aside. She dropped what she had been holding and then she walked around her bed and sat down in front of the other woman.

"Yes, Aims, I’m sure," Parker replied softly as she held her hand out to her friend. "They're supposed to appear at the same time, right?"

Aimée took Parker's hand in both of hers and gently stroked her fingertips across her still empty palm. "You're right, that's how it works Cub."

Parker took in a deep breath to try to will her tears away, but they still hit her with a vengeance when she said, "It's so stupid... I know we could never... but I... I actually started to... even though it's impossible..."

Aimée stood up and wrapped Parker in a tight hug. Parker shifted on the bed so that Aimée could sit down beside her. They somehow shifted their bodies at the same time so that they fit together with Parker snuggled into Aimée's side where she continued to cry. Just like she always did when she was comforting the young human, Aimée started to pet the length of her hair to try to calm her down.

"Parker it isn't stupid," Aimée replied in a soft, serene voice. "The heart wants what it wants, no matter what our brains think."

"Thanks Aims," Parker whispered, sitting up and brushing her tears away. "That's the other reason I can't stay. I don't want to have to see him, knowing that he isn't... that we can't... it hurts too much. So I'll go and work and the doll shop and... I don't know... try to forget about him, I guess."

"Yeah, when you put it that way it does make sense," Aimée said as her own tears started to form and threatened to take her over. "But can you promise me one thing?"

"Sure Aims, anything... well almost anything."

Aimée couldn't help but to laugh at Parker's quirky sense of humor. "Like you said before, this news has been a bit of a shock for all of us, so... would you sleep on it before you make any final decisions, please? If after you've rested and you still feel the same way, I"ll make sure a couple of the guys are available to help you move everything."

"Aims I don't think a nap will change my mind. He'll still be mated to someone else when I wake up."

"Would you humor me, Cub? Plus where will you go right now?" Parker's blush flared up at that question and Aimée forced herself not to laugh because she really wasn't trying to be mean, she just wanted to try to delay Parker's departure for as long as possible. "While you nap, I'll call Talon and see if he has a room he can spare for you for a while. I"ll fill him in on everything so you don't have to, okay?"

Parker practically knocked Aimée over when she surged forward to hug her. "Thank you so much! I don't think I could... but he's who I..." She stopped herself there and sat back to look Aimée in the eye to say, "You have yourself a deal. I promise I'll sleep on it before I make any final decisions."

"Good. And thank you Cub," Aimée replied. She gave Parker another hug and then asked, "Did you want me to leave you the biscuits and honey?"

Parker looked sheepish as she nodded then answered, "If you don't mind."

"I don't mind at all Cub. Sweet dreams."

With that said Aimée left the room while Parker dug out her favorite t-shirt that she had bought a concert years ago and her oversized black and white flannel lounge pants. Part of the reason that she had agreed to Aimée's request was that she was starting to feel too tired to function. Granted the offer to call Talon pushed her over the edge, Parker was also starting to feel the effects of the day. She would need to rest before she could do anything else, especially if moving was going to be on the agenda.

After she was changed into her pajamas, Parker shoved her suitcases to the floor so that she could crawl under the covers. Her mind was racing too much for her to sleep, but it felt good to be off her feet, snuggled into her bed and just resting.

WHEN AIMÉE left Parker's room she was quidly met by her brother Dev. She hooked her right arm through his left and turned him around to lead him further away form Parker's bedroom. She knew he had questions because she had been the same way when he left her room too, but she wanted to put some distance between them and the human before they started to get into it all.

"So how bad was it?" He finally asked when Aimée's feet started to slow down.

She shook her head answering, "I still can't believe she Isn't his mate. When she talked about them being together it sounded exactly like how most of us describe being around our mate. It's just too weird." She pulled him to a stop so that they could face each other and then added, "She's decided that the best thing for her to do is to move out. I’m not convinced that it is because I'd rather she stay close while we try to figure this all out, so I talked her into sleeping on it before she finalizes any plans."

"Where will she stay if not here?" A voice called out from behind them. Aimée and Dev turned towards where Remi was now standing behind them as he asked, "Will she be safe if she isn't living with us?"

Aimée let go of Dev's arm and took a couple of steps towards where Remi answering, "I was thinking of calling Talon because I know he'll protect her like she's kin to him. And if it won't work with her staying with him, I thought that Acheron would be another good choice."

Remi nodded with a sad look on his face, but he didn't verbally reply. Aimée felt sick to her stomach at seeing that look on her brother's face. She instinctively moved over to him and wrapped her arms around his right arm. He didn't seem to notice her at all because he was tracing the lines on his left palm with his right index finger. She rubbed his arm as if to try to warm him up and watched as he traced his mating mark. She could remember the mixture of emotions she had felt the day that her mark appeared so she could easily imagine the emotional rollercoaster her brother was on right now.

"Remi...?" She started quietly.

"No, you're right. Talon and Acheron will take good care of her. They've always been good to her," Remi finally commented, sounding completely distracted. "They'll take good care of her."

"Of course they will, Sweetie," Aimée replied rubbing his arm again to try to get his attention off of his mating mark because it seemed to be causing him so much distress. "But she's going to have a nap first before she makes any final decisions."

That comment actually helped Remi to focus. He then turned to his sister and asked, "So does that mean...?"

"She's still in her room right now," Aimée replied with a large grin spreading on her face.

As soon as she was finished her sentence, Remi disappeared. She and Dev shared an amused look and both let out a quiet chuckle. Dev looked like he was going to say something, but he was quickly silenced himself when Remi reappeared beside them.

"She isn't in her room," he said frantically to his sister and brother.

"What? Of course she is, I just left there," Aimée responded with a tone that made it sound like she thought that he was going crazy.

"And I just went in to check on her and her room is empty. All I could see was a suitcase on the floor," he retorted sounding even more desperate.

Aimée then turned to Dev and they gave each other a knowing look. They both had seen two suitcases being packed by Parker which meant that Remi should have seen both of them as well. Of course there was the possibility that Remi was mistaken and had only noticed half of what was in the room because he was so unnerved by not seeing Parker in bed right away. Then again maybe something strange was happening and Remi having a mating mark on his hand was only the half of it.

"Go," Aimée frantically told both of her brothers. "Go, I'll catch up."

"COME MY Little Primrose," a gruff voice with a Scottish accent commented conversationally as he ran the backs of his fingers against her cheek. "There's no need for you to pretend with me. Please open your beautiful violet eyes, Lass."

Too confused and curious to stop herself, Parker opened her eyes so that she could see who was touching her.

 

 


	10. Chapter 9

Parker sat at the kitchen table staring at the fire wondering if there was anything in the cabin that she could melt down to make a blade. That was if the fire was hot enough and if she could find a steel mallet to use. She knew Spike had a tool shed out back but the one time she had gotten close to it Spike had appeared suddenly at her side. He had been outside chopping wood because her initial suspicions had been correct; the fire was the only heat source and in this climate they really did need it to keep from freezing. He had been nice enough when he questioned why she was outside and what she was looking for, so she told him that it only seemed fair that she share in completing the chores since they were living there together. He had smile and agreed, but he did so as he was leading her back to the cabin.

That was when he gave her the task of keeping the cabin clean. That included doing the dishes and the laundry as well. Much to her relief the cabin had electricity, so there was a washer and dryer for her to use for their clothes and linens. The dishes she did by hand because that way it took her longer to do it, which meant that she was spending less time with him.

Not that the company that she had was the worst imaginable. Even though they had electricity, Spike didn't own a TV, a radio or a computer. Oh and there was no phone in sight either. He had confessed to her that a lot of things in the modern world made no sense to him at all. Some modern conveniences made life easier, hence the washer/dryer and enviable stove and oven, and other seemed to make life harder, more isolated, like a TV or radio. When Parker had questioned him about that rationale, Spike explained that people came together and shared stories over a good meal, but when a TV or radio was on they were expected to be silent and just watch and listen. Sitting and staring at moving pictures and not interacting with anyone didn't seem like much of a life to him. Parker had protested that there were plenty of good shows that made the quiet worthwhile, but for every argument she gave he had one to counter her until finally just gave up and stopped arguing because she had no fight left to give.

After she had finished arguing with him, she then shifted gears and asked him what it was that he did for fun. That had caused him to laugh because he said that 'fun' was or people who didn't have enough work to do. He hunted and butchered all of the meat that he ate and he had to fall all of the trees that he used to fuel the fire. Between that and cooking the meals he didn't have much in the way of spare time. But when he did have free time he usually spent it away from the cabin with his brother. Their conversation had ceased there because he said that he didn't wasn't to discuss his family and the tone he used told Parker not to push, so she hadn't pressed him to explain any further.

So here she sat staring at the fire. By her count she had been here for four days and five nights. Thankfully the wardrobe had housed more than Spike's clothing, it housed some for her as well. Although more importantly to Parker they had been her own clothes that she had packed into a suitcase that he grabbed at the same time he had brought her here. So she sat comfortably in a pair of jeans and a long sleeved t-shirt, wondering how she could make a weapon to maybe kill a man… an entity that had been nothing but kind and complimentary to her.

 _I am so messed up_ she thought to herself as a familiar stabbing sensation in her stomach hit her. _I feel guilty about wanting to hurt him? Why? Because he's been nice? And how long will that last?_ Just then her eyes moved to her right hand. _Not like you have anything but work to go home to anyways. Maybe…_

She didn't let herself finish that thought. Instead she stood up and walked over to the fireplace. She wrapped her arms around herself and rubbed her arms to try to warm herself up. The flame was low now and nearly all that was left were red hot coals. She then walked over to the racks of wood to the right of the fireplace and loaded her arms up with the logs Spike had chopped the day before. As she carefully laid them on top of each other to allow for the optimum amount of oxygen flow to allow the fire to burn more easily, she couldn't help but wonder what was happening back home. Did anyone but Aimée and Dev miss her?

Parker was once again standing in front of the fire to warm up. Her mind was blank as she stared into the flames, but as they grew her thoughts became more focused on one face. She allowed herself to keep that face in her mind's eye until she felt a tear trickle down her cheek.

 _Stop it! He has a mate and she isn't you!_ Parker chastised herself as she angrily wiped a tear away from her cheek. _Why don't you instead think about what you could make for dinner?_

With that new thought in mind, she turned on her heel and moved towards the kitchen to see what was in the fridge to plan out a meal.

AIMÉE MADE IT INTO Parker's room just in time to see her two brothers starting to argue. They stood on either side of her bed and Aimée had the distinct impression that the bed was the only thing that kept their fight from getting physical.

"Well it's the only one here," Remi stated as if it was an angry retort.

Dev held his hands up in surrender then said, "I was just making an observation. She had two out that she was starting to put clothes into when I came in to talk to her."

"So what? You think that's a clue or something Columbo?" Remi shot back as his anger mounted with every word.

"Well…"

Dev saw Aimée enter the room and gave her a pleading look. Without a word passing between them Aimée knew what Dev was asking, so she nodded then walked up behind Remi. There she wrapped herself around his right arm and hugged it tightly. At first he went rigid under her touch, but just as quickly he relaxed and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. She was glad that she didn't have to hide her smug look that she was giving Dev as she cuddled into Remi's side, but Dev did have problems suppressing his own grin.

"So what are you two fighting about?" She asked trying to sound as innocent as possible.

"Dev thinks that he can play detective to figure out where Parker is right now," Remi answered with a sneer.

"Again it was just an observation," Dev retorted with an easy smile.

Before Remi could start the argument up again, Aimée stepped away from his side and asked, "What is it that you observed Dev?"

"That there's only one suitcase by her bed, but she had two out when I came in to talk with her," Dev answered as he lifted said suitcase onto the bed.

"He isn't wrong," she said looking up into Remi's eyes.

Remi opened his mouth to reply but nothing came out. He then threw both hands up and stepped away from his sister saying, "Fine, you two want to play Mulder and Scully, I won't stop you. But I won't help you either."

He then turned and made his way to the door. Just before he walked through it he snatched up a shirt from the floor. Because his back was facing his siblings they didn't see him quickly hold it up to his hose to inhale Parker's scent. She had 'borrowed' this shirt from him during one of their afternoons at Talon's cabin because she said it felt weird cooking in the buff while in Talon's cabin. Remi had laughed and then pointed out that they had just spent the last hour having sex, so being naked shouldn't be all that different. She countered that naked sex in a bed was way different than naked cooking with bacon. He had no retort for that and just laughed as he watched her make a meal with the food that she had been stocking in the cabin since the day that they started using it as their own little getaway spot.

Feeling a new surge of emotions overcome him, Remi held the shirt up into the air and said, "I've been looking for this. I didn't know she stole it from me."

He continued out the door as Aimée and Dev shared a look. If they didn't know any better, they would say that he was upset that his mate was missing. But then again this WAS Remi who they were talking about and he WAS known for being a jerk just for the fun of it. Then again Parker was their friend and she was missing so they needed to figure this out and do something.

Aimée let out a sigh then said, "Why don't we look at what she left behind and maybe we can figure out where she was thinking about going."

PARKER WAS SURPRISED that she was able to competently cook a meal when she had no other distractions in the room. None of her pots had boiled over to make an incredible mess and the meat that was cooking in a pan still looked edible. She couldn't help but to smile because she had convinced herself that she was a complete disaster in the kitchen, but now she was thinking that she had it all wrong.

 _I wonder what other…_ She started to think to herself before she shook her head to clear that thought away. _No distractions!_

The fact that she was almost having full conversations with herself in her head was slightly unnerving for Parker. It wasn't until the second day that Spike left her alone in the cabin that she had realized that she rarely spent any length of time alone. Well when she was awake that is, thankfully she had yet to be visited by any Dream-Hunters and from some of the horror stories she had heard she was hoping to keep it that way. But when she was awake she spent the majority of her day at work, which meant that she was with people. Even at the doll store the only time she was truly alone was when she was doing her blacksmith work and really it would be beyond dangerous for anyone to be chatting her up while she was working with fire. But right now the only company she had most of the time was herself and things felt like they were getting more than a little weird.

It wasn't just that she was having conversations in her head that were strange, but also the thoughts that her brain focused on when she let her mind wander. Or more importantly who her mind kept focusing on. Despite her consciously trying not to, Parker's thoughts seemed to always turn to thinking about Remi. At first she reminisced about the week they spent together in perpetual bliss. But those memories were bittersweet so she would now force herself to think about anything else when those memories started to surface. So instead of memories of Remi she would start to think about what he might be doing. Was he trying to find her? Did he even care that she had disappeared? Did he even know?

That last question was the most intriguing for her because maybe he wasn't even aware that she vanished from her bedroom. Aimée was a master at keeping secrets, so maybe she hadn't even told Remi the truth. Plus, he had his new mate to focus on too. He only had a little over two weeks to complete the mating ritual with the woman the Fates had chosen for him or he would become sterile.

"Would serve him right," Parker mumbled to herself as she placed a glass backing dish with her latest masterpiece into the oven.

"It would serve who right?" A gruff voice questioned from behind her with a chuckle.

Parker jumped in her place and whipped around to face him the instant that her hands were free. Her reaction to his innocent question caused Spike to throw his head back and let out a full-bellied laugh. Parker could only imagine what she looked like right now as a dark blush spread across her cheeks and neck. She knew that she looked guilty and that she was trying to hid something but in reality she had nothing to feel guilty about because she was still allowed to think about Remi even though she wasn't his mate. And so what if the majority of the time she was thinking about what he looked like without any clothes on?

"I didn't mean to startle you Lass," he said with the same jovial tone. "Are you alright?"

Parker allowed herself to let out a sigh of relief. One of the first things she had learned about Spike was that he couldn't read her mind. Well more precisely, he might be able to, but he hadn't because he didn't want to invade her privacy that way. He wanted to learn everything he could about her, but he wanted to hear it from her.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Sorry. I must have gotten lost… and then I…" Parker stopped herself there and shook her head. "Sorry. Let me try that again. I was lost in thought and didn't hear you come in. Was your…? I mean did your business meeting go well?"

"Nay," he replied in an almost angry tone. He sat down in an arm chair beside the fireplace and started unlacing his boots as he added, "Twasn't a real business meeting. Me brother…" He grunted out an angry noise. "He lured me to him under false pretenses."

Once again Parker wanted to ask about his brother and what kind of deities or entities they were, but the enraged look in his eyes kept her silent. Instead she pulled a stainless steel stein out of the cupboard and filled it with ale from a keg he kept in the kitchen. She had questioned him about not just having bottles or cans of beer in the fridge. He had given her an offended look and replied that ale should never be bottled or canned, straight from the barrel is how it should be served. It was one of the best tasting ales Parker had ever had, so she once again conceded to his way of thinking.

After filling the stein, Parker walked towards him saying, "I don't have any siblings, but from what I hear from my friends that do, I'm thinking that isn't a bad thing. They sound like they can be a real pain in the ass."

"Aye," he agreed as he claimed the stein with a grateful smile. "But tisn't all that bad. He has helped me through a jam on more than one occasion. Were he to have a heart, I would say that today it was in the right place."

Parker could understand that sentiment and just smiled awkwardly in reply. Spike took a healthy drink from his mug and then sat back as he let out a contented sigh. This was what he had looked forward to for so long: a beautiful maiden greeting him at home with a pint of ale to help him relax after a hard day.

He took in a deep breath and then fixed Parker with a hard look as he asked, "You cooked?"

She gave him an uncertain smile and then walked back towards the kitchen answering, "Well more like I tried. I'm not sure how well it all turned out."

At the oven she leaned down to check that her dish hadn't started to burn. With a sigh of relief, she started to straighten up only to be frozen in her place by the sensation of someone standing close to her back.

Spike inhaled another deep breath then said, "It smells divine. What be filling our bellies tonight, Primrose?"

"It's… umm… well it's kind of a modified Sheppard's Pie. I used ground deer meat instead of lamb. I've never made it before, but I tried to make it look and taste like the ones I used to eat when I was in England and Scotland," Parker timidly explained.

"I'm sure it will be a success on both counts," Suddenly Parker's feet left the ground as Spike lifted her into an over-enthusiastic hug. "My sweet Primrose, I knew you would be my perfect match. I should have sought you out sooner."

Parker just chuckled uncomfortably because she didn't want to upset him by saying he wrong thing. Once she was back on her feet, she closed her eyes and took in a slow deep breath. She had to keep her words in check because if she was ever going to make it home she had to make sure that she stayed alive.

Once she felt like she had her emotions and facial features in check, Parker turned around and faced him to say, "Why don't you relax by the fire while I finish everything up in here?"

He leaned in and kissed her on the forehead before replying, "That sounds better than good. Thank you for your kindness Primrose."

BIG WHEELS KEEP ON TURNING. CARRY ME HOME TO MY KIN…

A soft murmur came over the crowd at Sanctuary. The humans continued enjoying their food and would sing along with Lynyrd Skynyrd every once and a while between bites. To them it was a song that was a summer time anthem that was fund and they had no idea that at Sanctuary that song had a very different meaning.

While the humans remained ignorant, the members of the preternatural community were not. Virtually every single one of them went rigid in their spot and a few became so frozen that they looked like statues. The rare few who didn't appear to be affected, but they still cast a wary eye towards the door to check that it wasn't a false alarm. Then there were two people who actually had a look of expectation once they heard the familiar guitar riff because they had been the ones who had invited him here.

Acheron stood just inside the door of Sanctuary and surveyed the small crowd for the bear who had brought him here. His jet black hair with fire engine red streaks was pulled back into a ponytail that was fastened by a silver clasp that looked like the talons of a predatory bird at the base of his skull. His long black leather duster covered a black t-shirt with the logo from CBGB in New York, skin tight black jeans and knee high black combat boots covered in buckles. He made no move to remove his sunglasses which would have made looking around the dimly lit bar impossible to anyone who wasn't him. It didn't take him long to find his target and he hefted his backpack strap higher up onto his shoulder before he started walking towards the bar.

As soon as Aimée made eye contact with Acheron (or what she thought was eye contact because she couldn't be certain since his eerie silver swirling eyes were completely obscured by his black opaque sunglasses), she started waving her hand to signal for him to come over to the bar.

Fang stepped up beside her and asked through closed teeth, "You invited Acheron here?"

Aimée kept her smile plastered on her face as she answered, "We have no leads. Plus, she's a Squire and he's in charge of the Dark-Hunters, so it seems like the right thing to do."

"What about the Squire Council?"

"Well I…" Aimée paused then nodded smugly towards the entrance of the pub. "There's their representative now."

Otto gave his eyes a couple of seconds to adjust to the lighting inside. Once he got Acheron in his sights, Otto started moving towards the Dark-Hunters' leader right away. He wasn't entirely sure why Aimée had requested an audience with the Squire Council (or as it was in this case, their representatives), but as soon as he saw Acheron he was sure that he had been invited here for the same reason.

After Otto stepped away from the door, it opened again and Talon stepped through it with Dev right on his heels. They walked side by side in silence with matching grim looks on their faces. Aimée couldn't help but to frown because she felt like she wasn't doing enough for Parker. Surely there were other people she could call to help in searching for the young Squire, but she had no clue who they would be or how to get a hold of them. That meant that this strange assortment of Were-Hunter, human, ex-Dark-Hunter and other were Parker's best and (sadly) only hope.

AFTER THEY FINISHED OFF the last bite of Sheppard's Pie from the baking dish, Parker and Spike retired to the chairs in front of the fire. He added a few logs before he dumped his weight into his chair. Spike kept his eyes closed as she soaked in the warmth and Parker had to take a drink from her mug to keep herself form laughing.

With his eyes still closed, Spike patted his stomach with his free hand and said, "I am a well fed man." He opened his eyes to look into Parker's and added, "Compliments to my chef."

Parker blushed and squirmed slightly under his unyielding gaze. There was something about the way that the fire reflected in his eyes that made it look like the fire was dancing in them. It held her completely mesmerized. A soft smile tugged on his lips before he blinked and finally broke eye contact with Parker.

Parker felt like she had just been snapped out of a trance, but was still completely aware of everything that had been said. "Oh… you're… you are more than welcome."

They sat there with the crackling fire and occasional pop from the fire as the only sound in the room. Normally Parker would find this much silence unnerving, but right now for some reason it felt right. The thing that did get under her skin a little bit was that every so often, out the corner of her eye, she would catch Spike watching her. He was never obvious, but he would gaze over at her and get a look that at first she couldn't quite describe it. Now she would say it was a look of reverence. It was almost as if his eyes would seek her out just to make sure that she really was there. Other times he would reach out to brush his fingers against her hair or face to make sure that she wasn't some kind of illusion. She still wasn't sure how she felt about it, but she was willing to tough it out until she got home safe… if she ever made it home safe.

Park was brought out of her thoughts when Spike gently pried her empty mug out of her hand. That was another thing he would do that she wasn't certain how it made her feel. He would refill her glass or plate without saying a word to her. Most of the time she had wanted the refill, but the times that she didn't she still forced herself to swallow it down to appease him. Plus, it was kind of sweet how he took such good care of her even though he really didn't have to do it.

 _Oh no! Stop that brain! We are not going to romanticize this… heck we don't even know who or what he is!_ She silently chastised herself as she sat up straighter in her seat.

Although he had spent the day with his brother doing only the gods knew what, Spike actually appeared to be in quite a jovial mood. There had been a question burning in the back of her mind that she had been waiting for the right time to ask.

 _Well now is as good of a time as any_ , she coached herself.

"Spike? Would you mind if I asked you a question?" She asked slowly as she claimed a glass tumbler of a dark amber liquid that he offered her.

"Aye, me Primrose, you canna ask me anything," he answered with a soft laugh. He watched as Parker sniffed the liquid and then he let out a loud boisterous laugh. "Just so you don't waste that question, in yer glass is the finest scotch that not even money can buy."

Parker still looked hesitant to drink it, so he added in a more somber tone, "There be a cold front moving in. You'll be needing that to help warm yer belly through the night. You don't have enough meat on yer bones to keep yerself warm."

Parker couldn't help but to smile at that compliment. She quickly smothered it by taking a drink because with the way he said it, it didn't really sound like it was meant to flatter her.

Although they hadn't lived together long, Spike could tell that Parker was trying to cover something up. He thought that maybe she had lost her nerve and didn't want to ask her question anymore. He knew it had taken her a great deal of courage to even broach the subject, so he didn't want her to back down now.

"Please me Primrose, ask yer question."

Parker stared into her glass for a moment because it still caught her off guard whenever he called her 'his' Primrose because she knew that she wasn't. She had tried to tell him that, but he wouldn't listen to it. He told her that the color of her eyes didn't matter, just the beautiful soul he could see shining through them.

"When we were talking the other day," she finally started with a definite note of hesitation in her voice. "You… you made it sound like you had been watching me. But not like a stalker or anything… just… umm… just… I mean… I don't remember seeing you there, but what you've said it like you were there, y'know?"

He gave Parker the same look he always did whenever she had talked him into not understanding a word she had said. Before he could say a word, Parker held up her hand then said, "Let me try that again. You make it sound like you watched me at Sanctuary, but I don't recognize you. Were you ever a customer of mine there?"

He smiled at how clear and concise she had reworded everything and more importantly so that he could understand her question. He had always planned on telling her the truth, but he hadn't been sure when would be the best time. Spike knew that she feared him on some level because of the powers she was sure that he possessed, but he was sure if it would ease her mind or frightened her more to witness the extent of just a few of his powers that he used around humans.

Spike took a slow sip from his glass before he put it down and looked like he had come to a decision. "Aye, me Bonnie Lass, I was a patron at the pub. In fact, on more than one happy occasion you were me own server and we shared many tales together."

Parker's scowl deepened with every word that Spike spoke. "But you don't… I mean how could I not remember you? You aren't…? You weren't cursed by like Morginne like Wulf was, were you?"

"Nay, t'isn't anything that bad Lass," he answered with the same light-hearted tone he used whenever she said something outlandish. "Twas a power passed onto me by… well I don't right know who, but it comes from the blood of one of me parents."

"So you're like Max then?" She asked sounding as if that question should make total sense to him without any further explanation.

This time it was Spike's turn to scowl as he replied, "I'm sorry Lass, but that name is not one that I recollect."

"Oh sorry! Max works at Sanctuary too… well kind of… Okay, if he gets call in then it means that someone has messed up in front of the humans," she explained too quickly for Spike to catch, "Sorry. Let me try that again. Max, he has the ability to wipe a human's memories. Is that what you did to me? Is that why I don't remember you?"

"Oh! Nay Lass, it isn't anything as sinister as that."

"Really? So then… umm… how…?" Her speech stared to trail off as she watched a haze or mist come down in front of Spike. No, it was more like heatwaves that were distorting his image. He started to blue so much that Parker couldn't help but to rub her eyes. She hadn't wanted to take her eyes off him, but it got to the point where she couldn't help but to do it.

When she pulled her hands away, Parker jumped so violently in her seat that she nearly fell out of it. Her reaction elicited another hearty laugh from Spike, but this time it was different. His voice was still deep and purely masculine but it didn't have the same gruff edge to it. Not only that there was something different about the way his voice sounded all together, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it.

Well, all of that might have had something to do with the physical changes that had occurred with the man beside her. Gone was the big, burly man with a wild brass red mane who could easily be mistaken for an extra in Braveheart. No, instead she was looking at a man of a much smaller stature who had muscles that one would attribute to being a swimmer or a gymnast instead of a warrior or a lumberjack. His face was clean shaven and his hair was a much tamer, shaggy dark blond mane that fell just below his ears. The only thing that hadn't changed was his eyes. Parker was kicking herself because his eyes were the exact same mossy green that she had never seen on another human being. He was still dressed in a black and red plaid shirt and snug fitting jeans that he had been wearing in his other form. Although he now looked more like a surfer than a lumberjack, the outfit still worked on him.

The more she looked at him, the more familiar he became. She knew him. More than that, she had joked around with him and told him more than once not to be stranger while she was serving him. She had even flirted with him. Did that mean that she had made him think that she had wanted to run away with him?

Parker's prolonged silence started to worry Spike, so he wanted to try to get her to talk with him again.

"Now Primrose, I don't want you to be upset with me. I didn't mean to deceive you. This is the form I always take when I have to move amongst mortals because, as my brother says, it helps me to blend into a crowd," he explained in a voice that sounded much more American, but it still had the slightest Scottish accent.

"Oh gods… it's you, isn't it?" She finally asked.

He had the grace to look sheepish as he meekly replied, "Aye."

Now that the majority of the shock had worn off, Parker was feeling more like herself as she asked, "But when did you come to America, Ian? Wait! Have you been to Sanctuary? I didn't like ignore you or anything, did I?"

"Nay Parker, it wasn't anything like that. In fact, when I did see you being mauled by that bear, I wasn't even sure it was you, me Primrose."

"Oh right. We met the summer after… well that's not important, but you met me right after I graduated and that was the year that I tried to be super girly. I let my hair grow out and dyed it a lighter shade of blond than my natural color and I… umm…"

"You were my Merry Marie," he finished for her.

She blushed then said, "Right because I switched between those two names and sometimes forgot which name I had given a guy, so I had to have a cover story. Wow, I seriously cannot believe it's you."

"Aye, tis me," he replied as he disrobed his disguise and returned to looking like the virile mountain man she had been living with for almost a week. "I had been to Sanctuary many a times in the past, but when I saw you I was drawn to you again. I wasn't sure if it was you or not and I couldn't risk not finding out. I was going to introduce meself to you after you finished with your last table, but then that bear came in and he ruined everything."

"That's why you took me from my room?" Parker asked softly, unsure that she wanted to hear the answer.

His eyes softened, as did his smile, before he answered, "Aye. I couldn't stand to see you hurt. My intention was just to go to speak with you, but then I saw you crying. Each tear that hit that pillow broke a piece of me heart until I couldn't stand it anymore. It was a brash move that I didn't know I had planned until it was done. But I won't say that I'm sorry I did it. Tis been a pleasure getting to know you without any distractions."

Parker gave him a watery smile then sniffled in a grateful tear before she whispered, "Thank you. It's been nice getting to know you again too."

AIMÉE DID A FINAL survey of everyone around the table to make sure that they were all comfortable. Samia had asked if she could join in the discussion since it pertained to someone who was important to her mate. Fang had joined in too, but he was just there to make sure that his mate didn't over extend herself. Remi had feigned complete disinterest in the whole situation. After he delivered the last bottle of beer on his tray to Fang he looked over at the only empty seat at table a long lingering look. Aimée could tell that he wanted to join them and she almost said something to him, but she decided against it because she didn't want to be the one to put him on the spot.

Although he really did want to sit down, Remi instead hung back and away from the group and said, "I've… got some stuff to do, but if anyone needs anything else… yeah, just… just call me."

Everyone but Aimée, Dev and Acheron gave him a strange look. The other three had to suppress their grins because they understood the reason for Remi's strange behavior but they didn't want to tip anyone else off just yet.

Although Acheron wanted to poke the bear, so to speak, and insist that Remi join them, he instead turned to Aimée and said, "It looks like we're all here, did you want to tell us why that is Aimée?"

Aimée had been watching her brother's retreating form so she didn't register Acheron's question until Fang squeezed her knee saying, "Aims? Sweetheart?"

"What?" She then turned back towards the table and shook her head. "Right, why I asked you all here. Sorry. Okay, we… uhh… I mean there's… ummm… there's a bit of a situation with… with… Parker."

Otto let out a quiet scoff and rolled his eyes as he said just over a whisper, "Of course I'd be called her because of that drama queen."

No one knew whether he had forgotten that he was in the company of people with superhuman hearing or not, but suddenly Remi turned on his heel and took a couple of deliberate steps back towards the table. He kept his angry glare focused on the back of Otto's head. Dev looked like he was getting ready to intervene, but then Remi stopped and just stood in his place with his fist clenched about ten feet away from the table.

Aimée tried to think of something to say, but her mind went completely blank when she saw Remi's reaction. Thankfully Acheron understood the awkward situation even without having to lay eyes on the angry bear. He then tried to get everyone back on track by asking, "When you say 'situation' Aimée, what do you mean?"

She flashed Acheron a grateful smile before she answered, "Well she was packing to leave and then suddenly she was gone. Like vanished into thin air, gone."

"Wait? She was packing? I thought that she and I had come to an understanding about her doing work as a Dorean Squire for the time being," Acheron replied sounding thoroughly confused.

"Oh no, she wasn't leaving New Orleans, she was just leaving Peltier House. Actually I was on my way to call…"

"Wait a second. That's what you guys are focused on?" Talon interrupted. "Can we go back to the part where you said that Parker vanished? Where was she when she 'poof', disappeared?"

"She… she…"

"She was in her room," Dev jumped in to take over for his now visibly distraught sister. "Aimée convinced her to have a nap because she was so distraught and when… when we went to check on her she was gone. We were in the hallway, so there's no way that she left by usual means."

"Did you check her window?" Otto asked in a tone that was strangely devoid of any emotion. "It wouldn't be the first time that she's done that."

"No she… she didn't have time to sneak out," Dev answered as his eyes unconsciously flick up to look at his brother.

Acheron caught the looks both Aimée and Dev were throwing Remi's way, so he asked, "You said that she was distraught, what happened there?"

Otto again rolled his eyes but this time when he opened his mouth to speak Acheron silenced him by saying, "We all know that there's some bad blood between the two of you, but can you let it go for now? The only thing that is important is that Parker has been taken from her room from a known laminas. So Aimée back to Parker being unhappy…"

Talon was trying to follow everything but he kept coming back to two things. The first was that there was some kind of romantic history between Parker and Otto. She had never mentioned Otto, especially in that way, but with the way that the Squire spoke of her it sounded like there was some bad personal history there. The second, and probably the more important thought right now, was that someone had hurt her badly enough that they made her want to leave the place that she had always considered one of her own personal safe havens.

"Yeah, I'd like to go back to that too," Talon interjected, still sounding deep in thought. "Does her being upset have anything to do with the new guy that she had been seeing in secret?"

"You know about that?" Aimée asked in wide-eyed disbelief.

Talon smiled softly as he replied, "Well not in any details, but the last time she came over for dinner she kept looking at her phone with a goofy smile on her face. It was Sunshine that figured it out first and asked her about her new beau. Parker wouldn't really tell us anything beyond the fact that it was really new and that she didn't want to jinx it by talking about him too much yet."

"Well you aren't wrong," Aimée answered Talon while her eyes were securely fixed on Remi.

Talon and Otto turned to follow her gaze. Having so many eyes so focused on him made Remi feel completely uncomfortable. He really didn't want to discuss his relationship with Parker with… well anyone, but he resigned himself to the fact that he had no choice because it was a part of the story about Parker's disappearance.

Knowing that he couldn't avoid it any longer, Remi swiftly moved to the empty chair at the table. After he had settled his weight into it, he moved his eyes to his sister's face. She seemed to know what he was asking, so she gave him a sad smile and nodded her head. He then took in a deep breath and closed his eyes as he placed his left hand onto the table top with his palm facing up.

Half of the people at the table didn't understand the significance of the mark they were seeing until Acheron asked, "You two were mated?"

Talon's eyes snapped up to Remi's face. He then looked over at Acheron and then quickly back to Remi as he asked, "You? You're Parker's new mystery man?"

Remi started to answer by nodding his head before he started to shake it. He closed his hand into a tight fist and refused to look at anyone as he replied, "Yes, but she and… we…"

Aimée reached over and held Remi's fisted hand as she answered for him, "They aren't mated."

"You cheated on her?"

Everyone stared in a stunned silence at Otto after his angry outburst. Otto, however, only had eyes for Remi and looked like he was ready to jump over the table and hurt the bear. Remi met his glare and matched it with one of his own. Aimée shared a look with Dev and then Acheron because this meeting was taking a turn that she hadn't expected. Dev just shrugged his shoulders because he was just as lost as she was, but he would make sure to stop his brother before he could hurt the Squire. Acheron looked slightly amused. He too was ready to intervene if needed, but he also knew that everyone, especially Aimée and Dev, needed to hear this exchange.

"No, I didn't human," Remi spat out in Otto's direction. "Unlike you, I wasn't willing to just toss her aside like yesterday's trash after I had sex with her."

Aimée scowled then quietly asked, "What? What did he do to our Cub Remi?"

Remi turned to look at his sister and his facial features softened. He shifted his hand so that he was holding her hand. When he spoke he tried to keep his eyes on his sister to try to keep his own anger in check. However, he couldn't help his eyes from flicking over in Otto's direction every once in a while as he spoke.

"He was her first and then he made her feel like shit for thinking that sleeping with her meant that they were in a relationship."

Aimée gave Otto a look of pure disgust saying, "You did that? No wonder she didn't want to be around other Squires."

"Hey, you guys weren't there. She lied to me about more things than I can list right now. She wasn't mature enough to be in a relationship," Otto replied sounding completely unrepentant. "And from the sounds of it, she probably still isn't."

"Why you little…" Remi started as he began to stand up.

"Enough!" Acheron bellowed as he stood up. He used enough power in his voice that everyone froze in their place. "What happened back then is in the past. Right now we need to focus on the fact that Parker is missing and is most likely Remi's mate."

All of the Peltiers frowned, but it was Aimée that said, "But she didn't receive a mark at the same time as Remi."

Acheron raised an eyebrow then asked, "Are you absolutely sure about that bear?"

PARKER SLIPPED ON A heavy jacket that was much too big for her after she had slipped on her sneakers. She still didn't have much by way of winter clothes because she spent pretty much all of her time inside the cabin. Spike, however, was outside most of the time because he wanted to make sure there was enough wood and meat stored up to help them get through the winter. They still had some time, but he was constantly reminding Parker that there was no point leaving until tomorrow what you could just as easily do today.

After she closed the door, Parker rolled the sleeved back so that her hands had more movement. Spiked noticed the second that the door started to open and stopped chopping wood. He stood with the axe leaned against a stump and waited to see what Parker would do next. She knew he was watching her, but Parker didn't mind. She actually felt safer knowing that he was tracking her movements, especially when she was outside because she didn't have to worry about falling prey to any wildlife that might be in the area.

Parker waved her arm as she walked towards Spike and called out, "Hey! There you are!"

"Aye Lass, here I be," he replied with a chuckle. "What be needing you me Primrose?"

"I found a cook book with some recipes to preserve vegetables. I was wondering if you would mind if I raided your herb garden to can some of the crop we harvested yesterday."

Spike beamed at her question and wrapped an arm around her neck to hug her into his side, "Of course I don't mind. Thank you for your thoughtfulness."

"Oh and I might have enough of everything to preserve some meat too. I would just… umm… that is if you could bring some in from the shed when you get a chance."

"Aye, I can do that," he replied as he pressed her into his side again. "I be the luckiest man in the land for having such an angel in me life."

"It's really no big deal. I just want to do my part," Parker said as a hot blush colored her already pink cheeks.

"Still, tis very much appreciated," he said before he kissed her forehead.

"Okay… well… you're welcome," Parker answered as she hugged his waist. "Well I should let you get back to work. I've also started a stew, so it should be ready whenever you get hungry."

Spike stared at Parker as she started walking away. She did pause and turn around to look back at him when she heard him say, "Primrose."

She held up her hand to stop him then said, "Really you don't have to thank me. Consider it a thank you for helping me through my breakdown last night. I know it wasn't pretty and you were so kind and understanding."

Spike gave her a sad smile and an understanding nod as he replied, "Maybe not, but twas needed to cleanse yer heart."

Parker felt a lump form in her throat, so she just nodded and then turned to walk over to the garden. She had brought out a bowl and scissors with her and she retrieved them from beside the door before completing her walk. Spike stayed stationary to just watch Parker for a couple of minutes. He knew for centuries that she was the woman he wanted to have in his life, but he needed her to come to that same conclusion on her own and in her own time. Last night had been a major breakthrough in what he thought was help for Parker to find that path.

After eating their nightly meal, Parker had decided to relax in a hot bubble bath because they both had spent so many hours in the garden harvesting the vegetables that Spike had planted. Another modern convenience Spike had splurged on for the cabin was a Jacuzzi tub and a massager shower head for the shower. He told Parker that after a couple of days of hunting he like to soak in a hot tub to get the 'stink' off him. He also added that if he were to ever have a female companion live with him that he was sure that she would appreciate having one as well.

Parker couldn't argue with that logic because after a long shift at the pub, she too loved to soak the day away in a hot bath. What she didn't tell Spike was that more and more frequently she was joined in said bath with her favorite bear. Things between her and Spike were still polite and cordial, so she didn't want to give him any reminders about anything that might keep her from being able to return his romantic feelings.

She had tried to shake away her thoughts about Remi because she didn't want to have to explain why she was being so emotional. She forced herself not to look at Spike when she moved her suitcase to the bed. Her breathing calmed as she sifted through her clothes to find something to change into after her bath. She managed to get herself into check until she pulled out a t-shirt that recently she had loved to sleep in at night, one of a few that she had claimed as her own from Remi's wardrobe. After she pulled it out, she lost her control on her emotions and she finally started to cry.

Spike rushed to Parker's side when he saw her crumble into a ball beside the bed. She was sobbing so profusely at the memories that shirt evoked, so he just pulled her into his lap to make her more comfortable while she cried. It took him a few minutes before he was able to pry the shirt out of her hands. By that time, she was calm enough to try to speak with him. He had asked her if she wanted to keep the shirt. When she answered that she never wanted to see it again, Spike used his magic to make it disappear.

After that Parker had calmed down even more. In fact, she was finally able to tell Spike about the man that had broken her heart. She also explained the scene that he had witnessed in the pub that had convinced him that he wanted to get to know her better. She still wasn't thinking completely clearly, which was probably why she even thanked him for taking her away from there because she didn't think that she could look at the guy who hurt her right now.

Spike was beaming at his memories of the night before while he watched Parker slowly make her way to the garden. She wasn't quite there yet, but he knew that she was on the right track now to falling in love with him. Last night she had finally mourned the ill-fated relationship with that bear. Now that she had finally accepted that whatever she had with the bear was over, she could allow herself to be open to starting something new. Plus, if he continued to control her exposure to the outside world then he was sure that she would turn to him for a new emotional attachment.

He lifted the axe above his shoulder and brought it down again a piece of wood to break it in half as he thought to himself, _We're getting there me Primrose. It won't be too long yet._

ACHERON LISTENED INTENTLY as the three Peltiers relayed the events that led up to Parker's disappearance. Dev took over relaying most of the narration because Aimée became too emotional and Remi… Well he remained much like himself and pretty much shut down and fell completely silent because he really didn't like to be the center of attention.

"Alright so we're looking for someone powerful enough to mask a mark given to a human by the Fates," Acheron commented while he mentally tried to make a check list.

Talon was still reeling from the thought of Parker getting up close and very intimate with Remi. He seemed to be her polar opposite because Remi preferred solitude where Parker loved being in a crowd. Remi seemed to keep everyone at arm's length, where Parker tried to go out of her way to make everyone feel welcome. That trait was probably why she did so well as a server in the restaurant.

The more he thought about it, the more he couldn't quite believe that Parker could have fallen for the bear or vice versa. He was sure that they would be at each other's throats more than anything else which really wouldn't allow them anytime to get 'close'.

That last thought made Talon shudder because Parker was still the little girl with blond pigtails in his mind's eye. The thought of her becoming intimate with a man just didn't sit right with him. He shook his head to clear away that train of thought and raised his hand as he asked, "But are we really sure that Parker is his mate? I mean maybe she doesn't have a mark because she isn't supposed to have one."

Remi clenched his jaw and started to grind his teeth. Aimée saw the angry look in her brother's eyes so she reached over and squeezed his hand under the table. The two of them had already had a long discussion about that subject because she too wanted to be able to rule that out as a possibility.

She ran her thumb over her brother's knuckles to try to help to keep him calm as she answered, "Remi hasn't been with anyone else since he and Parker started seeing each other. He was so convinced that she would have a matching mating mark that he practically declared his love for in the middle of the pub. Plus…"

Aimée stopped there and swallowed hard. Acheron waited until she had taken a couple of sips of her tea before he asked, "Plus what Aimée? Any tiny bit of information can help us right now."

She nodded then replied, "Well after she refused to talk with Dev, I tried to talk with her. Everything she described about being with Remi, it sounded just like how most of us talk about our mates. I even checked her hand again to make sure that a mark really hadn't appeared."

"Alright, so," Talon said as a new thought started to form in his mind. "Is there any way that we could find out for sure that she is his mate? I mean, I'd hate for us to spend a bunch of time and effort to try to figure out who or what could cover up a mark if there really isn't supposed to be one on her to begin with, y'know?"

Everyone's eyes turned to Acheron. He held up his hand in a sign of surrender then said, "I most definitely am not your man. There is absolutely no love lost between me and the Fates. They would sooner curse me than answer any questions to help me or a human."

"Okay, but do you maybe know someone who they will talk to?" Aimée asked sounding somewhat desperate.

Acheron gave her a sympathetic smile and answered, "I might know someone. She's pretty well liked on Olympus and if she can't get an answer I might even have a backup."

"Zarek's wife?" Talon asked with a thoughtful look on his face.

"If Katra can't get the answers we need," Ash answered with a new thought swirling through his mind. "While I work on that point…"

"I'll use the council's connections to try to find out what kind of ritual could be done to hide such a mark," Otto commented as he stood up to leave. "I'm not sure what else I can do to help, but you know where to reach me if you think of anything else." He caught the unimpressed look on Remi's face so he added, "Ash is right, personal feelings can't be indulged right now. Parker isn't just a Squire, she's a Blue Blood and no matter how I feel about her, I do respect her family and their history. Plus, the council won't be happy to hear that someone thinks that they can mess with one of our own without any kind of retaliation."

Everyone nodded in understanding and Remi's glare actually softened ever so slightly. He still did not like that Squire all that much, but he could at least respect him a little bit now. He was able to put aside his personal feelings in order to do the right thing. Plus, the council had resources that he and his family could only dream about accessing, so he would play nice so long as Otto remained useful.

"I'll see what Sunshine and her family might know. Her Gran might be able to shed some light on who might have the mojo to pull this off," Talon said as he stood up to leave as well.

They watched him leave and then Acheron turned his attention back to the five people still seated at the table to say, "I guess that's my cue. I'll let you know what I find out."

Before he could disappear, Aimée called out, "Thanks Ash. Is there anything else that we might be able to do to help?"

"Try to ask around about anyone new that's been showing up at the bar. Anyone that might have asked to sit in her section. Anything like that at all." He then leveled Fang with a stern look and added, "And you might want to talk to a certain someone about any dark magic that our other resource may not have any knowledge of."

After Acheron disappeared, Aimée turned to Fang and asked, "He doesn't mean…?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure that he does," Fang answered.

"Are you sure that you want to owe him a debt this big?"

Fang cupped her cheek with his right hand as he answered, "It's up to you. How important is she to you? Is your Cub worth the debt we both know he'll demand?"

Aimée closed her eyes and swallowed down some tears as she felt her brother squeeze her hand in a death grip. She knew he was afraid that she would say no and didn't want anyone else to see his fear, even if they all knew that it was present.

When she opened her eyes, she didn't hide her tears as she looked deep into her mate's eyes and answered, "She's worth more than anything he could ask from us."

PARKER CAUGHT HER reflection in the glass of the cupboard again. She gently touched the scar above her eyebrow and frowned deeply. She hated that she had lied to Ash about why she had wanted to keep her newly acquired scar. It was the truth that she wanted to keep it as a reminder, but it wasn't of her bone-headedness. No, it was a reminder of how Remi had come to her rescue without anyone asking him to, which was the beginning of their short-lived romance.

Spike watched her as she got lost in some memory. He then stepped into her side and wrapped an arm around her waist asking, "Everything alright me Primrose?"

She tried to give him a strong smile as she answered his question with her own. "Would healing maybe be one of your powers?"

"Aye, I've been known to wield such a power from time to time. Why do you ask?"

"I'm thinking you might be able to help to erase some painful memories for me." His scowl told her he didn't understand, so she took him by the hand and led him over to his chair in front of the fire. "It's not what you think. Please sit down and I'll explain everything."


	11. Chapter 10

Acheron sat on his throne strumming on an unplugged electric guitar, looking like the picture of nonchalance. In reality, he was trying to keep busy while waiting to hear back from Astrid, Zarek's wife who is a Justice Nymph and half-sister to the Fates. As he had predicted the Fates would not give his daughter, Katra, an answer regarding Parker and Remi's possible mating. They were still holding a millennia’s old grudge against Acheron because his mother had laid waste to Atlantis and most of Greece to try to get to them because they had cursed him at birth. But that's a different story.

Zarek hadn't been happy that Acheron had called them for a favor, not that that reaction came as a surprise, but Astrid was more than happy to try to help. The only reason Zarek even passed the phone on to his wife was because Acheron had said that it he was calling about something pertaining to the Wallace's daughter. He knew that Zarek had a soft spot for the little girl who had fearlessly offered for him to sleep in her bedroom so that he would be more comfortable even though she had actually been absolutely terrified of him.

But Astrid had yet to call him with any updates. He tried to keep his mind off of it because there truly wasn't anything that he could do right now from Katoeros, the Atlantean heaven realm. He had also put calls into a couple of gods from Olympus who owed him a favor or who were just nice enough to help him out, but none of them had an answer for him either. As soon as he mentioned the Fates, everyone tried not to laugh while they told him there was little to nothing they could do.

Normally when he was at his home in Katoteros, he would have a few friends, including Simi, who would come and chat with him from time to time. This visit he had requested to only be disturbed if anyone called with news about Parker, if it was his wife, Tory, that needed him for any reason, or if something catastrophic was happening with any Dark-Hunters. He had even relegated Simi to being a tattoo on his body so that he could be left alone with his thoughts.

"Where are you Parker?" He quietly asked the empty room. "Who has you? And how have they taken you away from us?"

He felt Simi move from his left upper arm to his chest just above his heart. He gently patted that spot and said out loud, "Don't worry Simi, we'll find your Parker-Cub."

SINCE THE WEATHER was still clear and the worst of the cold weather had yet to set in, Parker and Spike tried to spend as much time as they could outdoors. Once they had harvested the rather large garden he had planted, they moved their attention to the small fruit orchard he had on the property. Parker had been quite surprised to find out that Spike owned a small of apple, pear, plum and fig trees. Then again she had yet to fully explore the property so she was sure that there were many more surprises for her to discover if she ever got a chance to check out the whole property.

Out of sheer curiosity, Parker had tried to use the few clues that she had observed in and around the cabin to figure out where they were, but every time she thought she had it figured out something would throw her off. For instance, most of the trees that Spike had cut down for firewood were fir, oak and the occasional pine trees, so she thought they might be in Alaska or British Columbia. But then Spike told her that if she was up for it, he was going to check the taps on his maple trees to see if they were ready so that they could make their own maple syrup. Since she had only heard of that being done in eastern States like Vermont or Canadian Provinces like Quebec, she was completely confused.

While she was up a ladder passing a filled basket of apples down to Spike, Parker commented, "So you are pretty much self-sufficient here at your cabin, eh?"

"Aye," he replied with a smile. "Tis me hideaway, so I want to be able to spend me time here, not travelling around for supplies. Me plans are to start a small farm in the new year with me own livestock to slaughter."

"Wow, really? So you'd have like cows, pigs and chickens here too?" Parker asked in a tone of mild awe.

"Aye. Mayhaps geese and turkeys as well. I'll have to see how much I can get done in the Spring," he explained. He then helped guide Parker down the ladder with his hands on her sides. When he still had his hands encircled around her waist, he whispered into her ear, "It'll also depend on if me Bonnie Primrose is willing to assist me with the upkeep of me wee fowl."

Parker shivered as his breath ghosted over her neck. She wasn't sure how she felt about her body's unconscious reaction to his presence because before Remi she had never fall for anyone very quickly. Most of the guys she had been with in the past had either been friends of hers for years or had been someone she had known through friends or family for a while before any feelings had blossomed. She had never been one to have a one-night stand (except for that one time with Otto, but again they had sort of known each other and she had expected to have a longer relationship with him) and she had never been on a blind date, so she was somewhat uneasy about Spikes familiarity with her after such a short amount of time.

Although in the next breath, she also reminded herself that she was trying not only to stay alive right now, which meant she needed to stay on Spike's good side, she was also trying to get over a broken heart. In the past she had either thrown herself into her work or studies to get over her latest break-up. Her friends had teased her that a one-night stand would do more wonders than getting an 'A' in a class, but Parker had never felt right about trying that as a solution. Then again maybe it was something that might be worth a try since her old coping mechanisms took so long to work and she wasn't in school anymore and she was far away from her work.

Plus, there was the fact that Spike wasn't looking just to hook up with her for a night. He thought that she was the woman he had loved for centuries and was willing to devote himself to her. That was a completely new concept to Parker. She didn't think that it was the worst premise on which to start a relationship, so she had made a resolve with herself to give some serious thought to giving it a try.

With that thought in mind, Parker turned around in Spike's loose hold so that she was facing him when she replied, "So long as I'm just doing the feed and don't have to help with the slaughtering, you have yourself a deal."

With his index finger, Spike brushed a lock of hair off Parker's forehead and tucked it behind her ear. He smiled softly as he said, "Me Primrose has a warrior spirit, but the most tender of hearts."

Parker felt her cheeks heat up as she ducked her head in embarrassment. She had already told Spike about her schooling and her proficiency with a blade, bow and various firearms. He had been delighted to hear that and even offered to take her with him on his next hunting trip. She had squirmed in her place as she declined his offer and explained that her only experience had been target practice and that she still hadn't gotten her first kill under her belt. He had countered that this could be her opportunity to do that, so she had to break down and tell him she wasn't sure that she could kill a defenseless animal, even if it was for sustenance. She was worried that she had disappointed him, but he just smiled and said that he understood and that she reminded him even more of the sheep farmer's daughter that he adored more than a lifetime ago.

"Oh Parker, I didn't mean to embarrass you," Spike recanted as he watched her walk over to the trolley where they were loading the baskets of fruit in order to transport them back to his cabin.

Parker kept her hands busy by rearranging some of the baskets as she replied, "I know you didn't. It's just that sometimes... gods, I don't know... it feels like..."

Spike gently stilled Parker's hands and turned her to face him. It didn't take him long to recognize when Parker was overwhelmed by her own thoughts which led to her to speaking I disjointed sentences. He also quickly realized that if he stopped her and helped her to refocus her thoughts that he could get her back on track almost immediately.

Today he held one of her hands in his own and moved his other hand up to her cheek to caress it gently. "You can tell me anything Lass. There be no judgment in me heart for you."

Parker smiled softly then teased him saying, "I thought you said you and your brother were born without hearts."

He let out a boisterous laugh as he replied, "Aye, tis true Lass. Tis why there be no room for judgment, me Primrose."

Parker gave him a sad smile in response. He thought that that was the end of the discussion, but she surprised him when she let out a heavy sigh then said, "Sometimes it feels like I'm the worst Squire on the planet because I'm no actually really one at all. I've never worked with a Dark-Hunter. I'm not even sure that I've ever seen a real Daimon, so there's absolutely no way that I've ever killed one. What good am I if I can't really do the job?"

"Parker!" He nearly shouted in surprise. "Taking a life, t'isn't something anyone should doo lightly. Don't let that be how ye measure yer worth."

"But Spike you don't understand. The people I'm supposed to be working with are ancient warriors who made their names by the blood they shed in the battlefield. Then there's me, a little girl who was raised to do a job that she's never actually done. Who wouldn't be disappointed for being stuck with me?"

"I for one be feeling blessed to have been able to meet you again."

Parker smiled, even though she tried really hard not to as she said, "But that's totally different. I'm not out here to help protect you or humans from some soul sucking vampires."

"Tis true." He then released his hold on her and moved behind the cart to push it back towards the cabin. He paused briefly then added, "Mayhaps yer Fates crossed our paths again now for a reason."

Parker's mouth gaped open for a moment because she hadn't even considered that as a possibility. She grew up worshipping the gods and goddesses from the Greek pantheon, but other than Artemis she had never thought about how they might influence her daily life. When she thought of the Fates, it was usually only in relation to how they chose mates for Were-Hunters.

Had she been focusing on the wrong role of the Fates? Was Spike right? Did they have a totally different plan plotted out for her?

Parker shook her head to clear away all of the questions racing through her head. Spike might have made an interesting and important point, but she didn't have time to indulge in those thoughts right now. Instead she did a skip-jump and hurried her steps to catch up with him. Maybe after they were done with their chores for the day she could question him further about this new theory that he had concocted.

ACHERON LOOKED UP FROM his fingers as they idly plucked the strings on his guitar when he heard his mother's voice call out, "Apostolos."

It didn't take long before he found her astral projection just to the right of where he was seated.

"Matisera..."

"I know what you are going to say Apostolos, so let me stop you there. I also know that you're very worried about that human. Why, I still can't understand, so I've done some searches for you."

Acheron sat up taller on his throne because he hadn't thought to ask his mother for help. Well, he actually had thought about it, but he was convinced that she would never lift a finger to help him try to find a human. Especially a human that wasn't his wife. For some reason Apollymi always had a soft spot for Tory that he was more than thankful for because of the complications that had occurred at the start of their relationship. But in the next breath he almost worried that his mother had taken such a deep interest in the subject of Parker's search and he couldn't help but to wonder why that was.

"Thank you Matisera," he replied with a tone of genuine gratitude.

"M'gios, you know there is very little I wouldn't do for you," she commented with a sad smile on her face. "But before you get too excited, I have to tell you that I've found absolutely nothing."

Acheron tried no tot look too dejected as he said, "Oh, well... thank you for trying."

Apollymi watched her son for a couple of seconds then added, "Apostolos? You know I normally could care less about any human that isn't my family, but it does trouble me that I found nothing."

"What do you mean?" Acheron asked feeling quite perplexed.

She took a couple of steps towards him saying, "My pond, it can show me anything I ask for. It's how I keep tabs on you, Tory and my grand-babies, but it remained completely blank when I searched for... Oh what's her name again?"

"Parker," he offered politely. "Parker Wallace."

"Right. That's it. Anyways, I thought you should know that."

Acheron smiled because even though it still sounded like his mother didn't care about Parker, he knew that she had tried. He also knew that she had more information to share with him, but she was going to make him work for it.

"Thank you again for trying," he said with a smile. "But can I ask...? Has this ever happened to you before? Do you know what that might have happened?"

"I'm not sure, m'gios. It makes me wonder if she's even on the mortal plain at all because I’ve had difficulties seeing into Hades' domain and many parts of Olympus in the past. Are you sure that she is still on Earth?"

Acheron paled at the thought of what her questions could mean. He swallowed thickly then asked, "Matisera, you don’t think that someone... or something took her just to... to... kill her, do you?"

Apollymi tried to pet Acheron's face, but due to her current state her hand just passed right through him. She then let out a heavy sigh and replied, "Ma komatia, your heart is too kind. No, I don't believe that anyone has hurt your human, I just don't know where they have taken her. It could be someone from another pantheon who has a refuge like you do here or powers to cover up her presence. There are many possibilities, Apostolos and it's very hard to say which one is correct."

Acheron smiled a little more easily as he replied, "You're right, Matisera. Those are some possibilities that I hadn't really considered. I'll have someone look into that side of things."

Apollymi smiled and stepped away from Acheron. She wanted so badly to be able to hug him and it hurt her heart every time that she was reminded that she couldn't.

As his mother stepped away from him, Acheron could see that she was saddened by the distance between them. For as long as he could remember she tried to entice him to join her in Kalosis. He had been tempted to do it from time to time but refrained from actually doing so because were he to join her it would effectively cause the end of the world, literally. Since he considered himself an unofficial protector of humans due to his role with the Dark-Hunters, he thought it would be counterproductive to cause their ultimate demise simply to see his mother in person.

She didn't appear to have anything else to say, but Ash still had a couple of questions for her. He quickly put down his guitar and stood up from his throne. As he walked towards her, he called out, "Matisera... before you go... Again I truly appreciate your help, but how did you find out about my search for Parker?"

She tisked him and moved closer to him replying, "Your wife and daughter love you very much, m'gios. They both came to me to ask if there was anything that I could do to help. None of us want to see you hurting, Apostolos."

"I know... and thank you again. It's just that she's..."

Apollymi tried to place her fingertips over his lips to silence him as she interrupted his thought saying, "You don't have to explain, m'gios. No matter how hard you try, I will never understand your love for humans after everything they did to you. Tory and your babies not included. Now if I can help with anything else, please ask me, okay?"

"Alright, I will Matisera, I promise. I think you've helped out more than you know already."

That compliment brought a tear to Apollymi's eye as she smiled proudly. She then disappeared without another word spoken. Acheron let out another sigh as he looked around the room to make sure that she really was gone. Once he had that confirmation, he made sure to put his guitar away properly before he flashed himself to his home in New Orleans.

It didn't take him long to find his wife, Tory, in her office grading papers. As usual she was talking to herself under her breath and cursing the stupidity of most of the world's population. Seeing her like that always made Acheron want to laugh, but that usually got him into trouble with her so he forced himself to keep a straight face.

The floor board creaked under his boots causing Tory's head to snap up. When she saw her husband approaching her with what she thought was a stern look on his face, she quickly put down the paper she was reading and picked up their son from his playpen beside her desk.

Tory then held Base up towards Acheron like he was a shield saying, "Achimou, don't be upset. I just thought that she would be able to find Parker and then all of this ugliness would be over."

Acheron let out a deep laugh which caused Tory to jump in her place. Bas immediately put out his hands for his dad to give him a hug and Acheron was quick to comply. Once her hands were emptied, Tory opened her eyes and frowned at the scene in front of her.

After giving his son a tight hug, Acheron moved the toddler onto his hip so that he could wrap his now free arm around his wife. Tory still looked confused as he kissed the top of her head which made him laugh again.

"Tory," he finally said with laughter still in his tone. "I'm not upset, Sota, that you asked my mother to help us."

"You aren't?" She asked sounding like she truly didn't believe him.

"Honestly, I'm not," he repeated as he hugged her again. "She couldn't find Parker, but she did bring up a couple of interesting points. I'm going to head over to Sanctuary to talk to Aimée and Fang quickly and then I'll come back here to take care of the kids so that you can finish grading your papers in peace."

Tory was smiling proudly as she reclaimed their son from her husband. After she had placed Bas in his playpen again, she turned around and almost ran into Acheron's chest. Before she could speak, he leaned down to give her a soft, lingering kiss.

Once he released her lips, Tory smiled dreamily then said, "If you really wanted to thank me, you could take over marking my papers."

Acheron laughed then kissed her again. "We'll see when I get back, Sota."

AIMÉE AND FANG WERE sitting in her office talking about his meeting with Thorn, the head honcho for the Hellchasers and a high ranking demon, when they heard a knock on the door. Fang rubbed Aimée's back and kissed her forehead to try to comfort her before he moved to open the door. Normally they would have called out for whomever it was to come in, but right now Fang wanted to screen who came into the office to talk to his mate because she was so upset.

She sat at her desk with her elbows resting on the desk top and her head cradled in both of her hands. She hadn't held out much hope that Fang's demon associate, Thorn, would actually try to or be able to help them, but it still felt like a blow to the gut to hear that he had completely refused. Worse than that, Thorn hadn't even let Fang finish telling him about their predicament before he cut Fang off and told him never to bother him again with such trivialities. Well that was putting it too politely compared to what Thorn had really said, but Fang hadn't give her specific details because he hadn't wanted to upset her any more than he had to at the moment.

Aimée only raised her head from her hands when she heard Fang say in a relieved sounding tone, “Of course, please come in.”

When she the familiar looking, heavily buckled combat boot come through the door, Aimée’s mood started to perk up. But once her eyes traveled up to look into Acheron’s frowning face, she immediately deflated. When Ash saw Aimée’s reaction, he tried to lighten his expression because he didn’t want her to lose faith completely just yet.

“I take it that you hit nothing but dead ends too,” Aimée finally said as Acheron sat down in a chair on the other side of her desk while Fang took up his post at her side once again.

Ash shrugged and tried to look nonchalant as he replied, “Yes and no.”

“What do you mean by that?” Fang retorted sounding angrier than he meant to in the moment.

Aimée reached up to hold her mate’s hand in an effort to help to keep him calm. He then grabbed a chair and pulled it up beside her so that he could wrap an arm around Aimée’s shoulders. She cuddled into his side and placed her head on his shoulder.

Acheron sat and watched the two Were-Hunters get comfortable in silence. He knew everyone that was close to Parker was having a tough time dealing with her disappearance, especially Remi, Aimée and Dev, so he was willing to cut the two people in front of him more than a little slack.

Once everyone looked like they were comfortable, Acheron finally answered, “You were right bear, no one could give me an answer about Parker’s whereabouts or if she is in fact Remi’s mate. The Fates were being their usual unhelpful selves about the whole situation, but Astrid said that she would keep trying to find out the truth. She also said that she wouldn’t be above going to their mother to try to find out the whole truth either.”

“Okay… I guess that’s a good thing?” Aimée posed it as a question because she really wasn’t sure of what that meant.

Ash gave her a sympathetic smile then replied, “I’m hoping it’s a good thing because then at least we might have an answer about the identity of Remi’s still unknown mate.”

“Right, that would be good. Okay, did you find out anything else?” Aimée asked trying not to sound overly desperate.

The next bit of information that he had to relay was quite delicate, so Acheron took his time to word it properly. He worried that if he wasn’t extra careful while explaining what his mother had told him that Aimée and Fang would completely misunderstand him which would cause them extra worry for no reason.

“So the other thing isn’t so much something I found out, but more like questions that I didn’t think to ask before.” That statement caused both Aimée and Fang to frown profoundly which was the reaction Acheron had expected. “We’ve all been working on the premise that Parker was taken by someone to somewhere here on Earth, but what if she isn’t?”

“She isn’t what? Here on Earth?” Fang asked in a tone that sounded like he didn’t totally understand and truly did just want clarification of that point. “Where else could she be?”

Ash shrugged answering, “The possibilities truly are endless. A different dimension? A different time? Tartarus?”

Ash’s last question got Aimée’s attention. She let out a soft gasp as she sat up. Her hand flew to her mouth and then she asked through her fingers in horrified shock, “Ash you don’t think…? She can’t be…”

“She’s not dead,” a voice stated in a resolute tone from behind her.

Aimée and Fang turned to face Remi as he added, “Sorry, I heard Ash’s song playing and when I didn’t see him in the bar I thought that he might be here.”

Aimée reached out a hand to her brother and squeezed his forearm. She was glad that he had come here on his own because she wanted him to know about what Acheron had found out and she wasn’t sure that she had the strength to relay it all to him later. She also didn’t know how to ask him to join them because any time anyone brought up Parker’s name Remi would get a look on his face that just broke her heart.

Acheron could sympathize with both of the Peltiers because he remembered how he had felt when he lived through a similar situation with Tory. “I don’t believe she is either, Remi, but there are other ways to be sent off the mortal plain that doesn’t include death.”

Remi nodded and then said, “Okay, yeah I understand that, but I don’t believe she’s alive, I know it. I mean I can feel it.”

Aimée turned to her brother and asked, “What do you mean by that Remi?”

“I don’t know exactly Aims, it just… in my heart… in my gut, I just know that she’s alive and she’s okay. She isn’t hurt, she just needs us to find her.”

Hearing that explanation caused Aimée and Fang to share a surprised look. Remi caught it right away and moved over to an empty chair by Acheron saying, “I know I sound like a crazy person.”

“No, that’s not it,” Aimée countered quickly. “It’s just… that’s how I felt about Fan after he was almost killed in the Bayou. We later found out that we were so closely connected because we are mates. Honestly Remi, the more I hear the more I’m convinced that Parker really is your mate.”

“And yet,” he replied as he showed his marked palm to the room as if it completed his thought.

“That brings me to my next point,” Acheron stated trying to get them back on track. “Whether she’s on Earth or not, I’m fairly certain that we are dealing with someone who has enough power that they could hid Parker’s mating mark and is now concealing her presence.”

“Who has that kind of power?” Aimée asked even though everyone in the room was thinking the same thing.

“Again there are more possibilities than I can list right now,” Acheron replied honestly. I was going to check in with Talon because I was hoping Sunshine’s grandmother will have some suspects for us.”

Remi let out a heavy sigh then said, “Don’t bother calling him Ash.”

The three of them turned to Remi with surprised looks on their faces. He quickly realized that they had misunderstood his comment so he added, “Sorry, I didn’t mean it like that. I ran into him a little bit ago and he told me that Sunshine still hasn’t been able to talk to her grandmother. It’s not all that unusual because she’s known to go on like vision quests or something, but they’re going to keep trying to get a hold of her.”

“Okay then, that’s one less stop I need to make,” Ash replied.

“Who else are you going to talk to?” Aimée asked while her eyes remained focused on her brother’s face.

“First I was going to check in with Katra and Sin. I’m hoping he might be able to check in with anyone from his old pantheon to see if they have any leads,” he explained as he stood u to leave. “Since Thorn chose to be of no help, I was thinking Savitar might make himself useful.”

“Savitar?” All three Were-Hunters asked at the same time.

Remi had a profound scowl on his face as he further inquired, “You aren’t going to get the Omegrion involved, are you?”

“Not yet, but if Parker really is your mate and someone has kidnapped her, you are well within your rights to have the guilty party brought before the Omegrion for punishment,” Acheron explained. “But in all honesty Remi, I’m just trying to call in favors to anyone that might be of any kind of help to us, no matter how small their contribution might be.”

While trying to give Acheron a grateful smile, Remi said, “I know that you are Ash. Thank you for all of your help. I really didn’t mean to sound so ungrateful.”

“Don’t give it another thought, bear. We all know how stressful it is when a loved one goes missing.”

With that last comment Acheron smiled and then disappeared from the room.

Remi looked over at his sister and her mate and had to swallow down an angry growl. He didn’t want to be jealous of them or begrudge them their happiness, but every time he saw them or any other happy couple, he couldn’t help but to feel just that. For the most part it wasn’t just seeing them together that was the issue, it was seeing the pregnant females. They were a constant reminder that every day that they didn’t find Parker, he was one day closer to being celibate for the rest of his life. Or rather her life, which meant that sooner or later he would start wishing for her death just so that he could have release.

That was completely unacceptable to Remi so he instead chose to stay away from his friends and family right now to keep that from happening. Or to at least delay it from happening for as long as was possible.

Without taking his eyes off of the scroll work on his palm he said, “I guess I’ll go see what else I can find out.”

Aimée had a sad smile on her face as she started to reply, “Oh-” but Remi had disappeared before she finished the “-kay”.

Fang hugged Aimée into his side and kissed the side of her head. She snuggled into his chest and wrapped her arms around his waist to return his loving embrace saying, “I wish there was more we could do.”

“I know you do Aims, but we’re doing the best we can. No one can expect anything more than that.”

She sighed and relaxed into his side saying, “That’s true.”

He heard her yawn, so he held her into his side with one arm while he used the other to move her legs over his lap. Aimée made an unhappy noise and then quietly asked, “What are you doing?”

“You didn’t sleep well last night, so I’m taking you up to bed to rest Momma Bear.”

“Oh,” she replied sounding like she hadn’t heard him completely because she was starting to fall asleep already.

Fang then picked her up and slowly made his way to Peltier House on foot. It wasn’t often that he wished that Aimée was able to teleport, but right now definitely was one of those times.

WHEN PARKER OPENED HER eyes she found herself in a sea of black. She wanted to think that she was in a dark room but the truth was that she couldn’t really tell because it was so dark. She stood completely still and was just happy that she could breathe normally.

The temperature wasn’t anything to complain about but she still wrapped her arms around herself as if she was cold. But then again the longer that she stood there the more she felt like she was going to start shivering. She knew it had nothing to do with the temperature and everything to do with her fear of the unknown.

Parker opened her mouth to call out but she just as quickly closed it because she didn’t know where she was or, worse yet, who or what was with her in the pitch black. She figured it was safer just to remain silent, at least for the time being so that she could try to get her bearings.

 _Okay_ , she thought to herself with her eyes closed. _You can’t just stand here forever and wait to be eaten… or saved… Think Parker, think!_

As she stood there shivering, she heard the sound of footsteps crunching on leaves of some sort. Parker also felt like there was light shining on her, so she very tentatively opened her eyes to see what had changed. Once they were open, she gasped softly because she found herself just on the edge of the Bayou at the garage where Talon kept the boats he (and she) had used to get to his cabin deep within the Bayou.

“How in Hades did I…?” She started to ask until she heard someone call out her name.

She turned around in a circle and didn’t see anyone outside with her at all. Still feeling somewhat confused about how she had gotten here from Spike’s cabin, she started moving towards the wooden structure that she hoped shill housed Talon’s vehicles. Being on familiar turf was helping her to gain some confidence. Plus, she knew where Talon kept his weapons, so she figured if anything came after her she wouldn’t be any worse off if she was armed.

As she took a step towards the garage like building, she paused when she heard her name being called out again. This time it was clearer and she could almost make out the person’s voice, but not quite. She was almost certain that it was a male’s voice, but she couldn’t quite tell yet.

 _Do I stay to find out or do I go to the cabin?_ She thought to herself while she stood practically frozen in her place. _Stay? Go? Stay? Go?_

“Parker!” The voice nearly shouted with excitement as it got closer to her.

She remained standing in her spot even though all she really wanted to do was to run to one of Talon’s boats. She looked down at her feet and silently cursed them for not moving. She was still staring at the ground when she felt a hand touch her shoulder. That caused her to jump in her place and let out a quiet scream.

“Parker!” The obviously male voice said with unadulterated relief in his voice. “I can’t believe I finally found you.”

Very slowly and almost afraid to have her suspicions confirmed, Parker turned around to face the man who had yet to let go of her shoulder. When his face came into view she took a step back asking, “Remi? How…? What…?”

She blinked and then their surroundings slowly morphed so that they were now standing inside Talon’s cabin. Remi had finally let her go, so that she could turn around and he still wasn’t touching her. When they changed locations she also wasn’t feeling any of the usual effects of teleporting such as queasiness or light headedness which left her feeling even more confused.

Remi aw the scowl on her face and he couldn’t help but to laugh. “We didn’t teleport, _mon ourson_.”

She took a large step away from him and snapped out an angry retort of, “Don’t call me that.”

Remi tried to reach out to her, but she just took a couple more steps away from him to make sure that she was beyond his reach unless he decided to move.

“Parker?” He finally replied in a tone of absolute confusion. “Why…?”

“How did we get here?” She asked forcefully over the rest of his question.

Remi stared at her in a stunned silence because he had never heard her used that tone before, especially with him. He also couldn’t believe that she would object so viciously to him using the private nickname only he had ever used for her. When he had come up with that term of endearment (which was just the French word for ‘bear cub’), Parker had been so excited that she had jumped into his arms and started kissing him and literally tearing off his clothes. Now she looked so angry that she looked like she might tear out his throat or his heart.

Parker folded her arms over her chest and started to tap her foot angrily while she waited for his reply. Suddenly the room around them started to melt away and turn into a dining room at a Pub. Only it wasn’t Sanctuary, it was the pub she had worked at while she was a senior in high school and the summer before she went to college. As she watched the room come into view more clearly, tables with customers appeared. Although the scene around them looked like a normal night at the pub with everyone enjoying their food, drinks and conversations, the room was completely silent, almost as if someone had hit the mute button.

Parker turned a full circle and could see people’s lips moving but she couldn’t hear a sound. Once she had Remi back in view, she asked in an awe-filled tone, “How are you doing this?”

Remi slowly shook his head answering, “I’m not doing anything Parker. You brought us here.”

“No, I can’t…”

She paused for a second when she saw herself emerge from the kitchen. Only she didn’t look the way that she should have during this time period. When she worked at this particular pub she had platinum blond hair that had been styled in a short bob because her hair had become so damaged from her bleaching out the black dye she had grown to love using in her earlier teens. Her wardrobe of choice had also been skirts that were almost too short to be considered decent along with t-shirts or tank tops with a plunging neck line. Her clothing had help to attract healthy tips as well as male attention which had bene her primary goal back then.

Instead she saw herself looking like she as from the current period of time. She was more confident than her younger self, sporting her now signature black hair with indigo blue streaks. She no longer felt like she needed validation by having random strangers admire her body, so she was dressed more comfortably in a V-neck t-shirt with a band’s logo on it, jeans and leather combat boots.

Parker watched as her other self marched up to a table of five males like she was a woman on a mission. Suddenly this scene became eerily familiar. She watched as she placed her hand on a patron’s shoulder and turned him around in his chair with so much force that she almost knocked him out of it. Parker couldn’t hear the words that were being said. Then again she didn’t need for her to know that he was ripping into Otto and telling him what he had always wanted to say to him back then but never had the courage to say out loud.

Normally when this scenario was playing out, Parker got to live it in first person perspective. This was the first time that she got to watch it as an outsider, so it was the first time that she noticed that no one but Otto was reacting to her giving him a verbal lashing. Even then he didn’t react in the same manner that she knew that he would have back then. No instead he was groveling and begging her for forgiveness like he only would in her…

“I’m dreaming,” she finally said as she pried her eyes away from the overly entertaining scene to face Remi again.

Remi smiled gently and looked genuinely relieved as he replied, “Yes, yes you are.”

“How…? I mean I know how dreams work, but how are you here?” Her bottom lip started to quiver and her voice started to break as she asked, “I’m not…? You aren’t actually…? Damn it! Am I starting to dream about you again?”

“Oh Parker,” he started as he took a step forward. “No, I’m actually here.”

He reached out for her but once again she stepped away and tearfully said, “Don’t… please… just don’t.”

Remi’s hands balled into fists as he forced himself not to get angry. Instead he felt like his heart was being ripped out. Now instead of having to stamp down his frustration, he was having to fight off tears of sorrow. It had been a long time since he had felt that way and although he knew their relationship would come to this sooner or later, it still caught him by surprise that it hurt so much.

Parker watched as Remi tried not to let his face crumble and she felt sick with guilt. She never could handle seeing someone in pain, so she swallowed down her own tears so that she could say, “Ever since I left Sanctuary, all that I’ve done is try to forget you and forget the way you make… I mean made me feel. If I let you hug me or touch me now… I’m afraid that I won’t let you go and… and… I have to Remi… and you have to do the same.”

He looked down at her and she was now close enough for him to touch her. She had also moved them out of the pub and into his bedroom at Peltier House. When she noticed their new locale, her cheeks turned a bright, dark pink so vibrant that Remi had to bite back a laugh because he could only imagine what she normally dreamt about happening in this room that would cause her to have such a strong reaction.

“We shouldn’t be here,” she suddenly whispered once again sounding like someone would hear her and that she would get into trouble. “This isn’t right.”

“It’s alright Parker,” Remi replied as she tentatively too her hand in his.

“No, it’s not,” she repeated as she stared at their now entwined fingers. “Remi it really isn’t… you should be with your mate.”

Since she wasn’t trying to get away from him, he gently pulled her closer to him. That too was met with little to no resistance, so he tugged on her arm until she was wrapped in his arms. He felt her go completely rigid in his embrace just before she sobbed in a breath and hugged him tightly.

Parker wanted to resist him. She wanted to push him away. Heck she wanted to kick and scream and push him away, but the second that she caught a whiff of his scent she was lost. Parker was completely lost to the sight, smell and fell of his body. He was more intoxicating than any drink or substance that she had ever ingested and she just had to get closer to him.

As she burrowed her face into his chest, Remi brushed her hair back and tucked it behind her ears. He finally felt like he could breathe properly again as the tightness in his chest that he had been feeling since he found her bedroom empty finally started to ease up. He hadn’t wanted to allow himself to have any hope that what his sister and Acheron had said was the truth, but here, now, holding Parker tightly in his arms, he actually didn’t believe a word that they said was true. No, he didn’t believe it was his truth, he knew it was the absolute truth. He knew with every fiber of his being, right down to his very soul that he was now holding his mate.

“Parker,” he practically breathed against her ear. “I love you, Parker. I love you with all of my heart and soul.”

She pushed on his chest and stared up into his face with a chagrinned look on her face saying, “No, Remi… no you can’t… we can’t… I can’t let myself love you anymore.”

He didn’t what that he wanted to hear Parker say that she loved him until that very moment. His heart swelled slightly at her half confession and it was all he could do not to kiss her. Instead, he cupped one of her cheeks replying, “We can if we are mated…” She frowned but didn’t get a chance to open her mouth to protest because he pressed his fingertips against her lips. “It isn’t just my wishful thinking, or Aimée’s, Acheron is convinced that it’s true too. When has Acheron ever been that wrong about anything?”

As Remi lifted his hand from her mouth, Parker started to answer ‘never’ but what came out instead was, “There’s a first time for everything.”

“Parker…” he tried to protest until she slipped out of his embrace.

She was emphatically shaking her head as she said, “No, no it’s can’t be true.”

“Why not? Tell me that we haven’t seen crazier things happen. I mean my sister is mated to a wolf and my brother is mated to a Dark-Hunter. How is me being mated to a human so implausible?”

“It… I guess it isn’t, but… but… it isn’t me, Remi… it isn’t me…”

“Parker…” he tried again with a heart-breakingly sad tone.

She shoved the palm of her open right hand into his face. He almost went cross-eyed trying to look at her palm like he knew that she wanted him to. When he saw nothing but human flesh, he opened his mouth to speak, but she didn’t give him a chance to utter a single syllable.

“I can’t be,” she said now staring down at her right hand. Suddenly her face started to crumble and her tears started to cascade down her cheeks. “Don’t you get it Remi? I want it to be true too, but it isn’t… I can’t be… because… because if I was, shouldn’t I at least be able to conjure up a matching brand on my hand in my own fucking dream?” She showed him her hand again and practically shrieked, “I still can’t even make it appear! And I’m trying to Remi! I’m fucking trying to make it appear with all of my heart!”

He took a small step away from her to try to give her space now that she was sobbing so profoundly that she was hyperventilating. In reality he wanted to scoop her up into his arms, but he knew that that wouldn’t be the right move right now. As he stepped away, slowly but surely his room started to fade away around them. Remi then stood perfectly still while he waited to find out where she was taking them next.

Suddenly the room got so dark that he couldn’t see Parker anymore. For a second he was worried that she had disappeared, but then he heard her sob in another breath. He tried to reach out to her, but the room was so black that he couldn’t even see his own, especially when it was an arm’s length away.

“It can’t be true… it can’t… Why…? Why won’t it appear? Why?” She repeated over and over again as she let out another gut wrenching sob.

PARKER SUDDENLY SHOT UP in her bed and was almost completely awake. Her cheeks were still wet with her still tumbling tears, so she angrily wiped her palms against her cheeks to try to dry them. But her tears continued to fall at such an incredible rate that it was hard for her hands to even slow them down, let alone cease them completely.

She pulled up her sheet to use it as a modified handkerchief since her hands were effectively useless. As she pulled it up to wipe her nose, she got a whiff of something that was only vaguely familiar. She couldn’t quite place the scent, so she opened her eyes to double check where she was now that she was awake. That turned out to be one of her less intelligent choices of late because she was nowhere close to being where she wanted to be.

Instead of waking up in her or Remi’s bed back at Peltier House, she was on the bed Spike had brought her to in his cabin. Granted he was kind to her and he provided for her, well the best that he knew how, but he wasn’t and this place wasn’t her home. She had tried to fool herself into believing that he could help her to forget Remi and how he had, how he still did make her feel. She had even asked him to heal her scar that she got from the first night she and Remi truly connected, but she had chickened out in the end and asked him if he could do it ‘later’, knowing full well that she never wanted ‘later’ to ever arrive. He had taken it all in stride because he thought that he truly cared about her, but even that was a lie. He loved a woman who no longer existed on the mortal plain because she had reconnected with her soulmate and they were now spending the rest of eternity in the Elysian Fields, which was the term for Heaven for any who worshipped the Greek gods.

Parker pulled her knees up to her chest so that she could bury her face into them. It had been a long time since she had felt so lost and alone and all she wanted to do was to cry her heart and soul into extinction. She just couldn’t find it in herself to pretend anymore. She wanted to be Remi’s mate more than she wanted to be a Squire or to have her own Dark-Hunter to serve. Looking at her stupid, bare palm made her heart hurt so badly that she wanted to just cut her hand off so that it would stop mocking her and her feelings.

While she completely gave herself over to her tears she heard the cabin door start to open. She still had no idea what Spike was fully capable of, so she sucked in a deep breath to calm her tears and breathing as she dried her face on the sheet again. She gave a long, lingering look at the bathroom door, but she quickly realized that wasn’t a viable option. She knew that she would only make it halfway across the room before he caught her and saw how upset she was right then. She also knew that he wouldn’t stop pestering her until she told him the truth about why she was crying and everything that was upsetting her, but she didn’t want to do that just yet. Actually, now that she was being honest with herself she never wanted to confide in him ever again because he didn’t deserve that kind of intimacy with her now or ever.

She knew that she was petite, so she knew that if she tried hard enough that she could occupy a very small area of space. Right now that meant that she cowered into the top left-hand corner of the bed and into the corner of the wall of the cabin. She knew that it would be hard to see her from the door and she could only hope that he wouldn’t see or hear her for a while and he would incorrectly assume that she was in the bathroom.

Despite her best efforts, Parker continued to cry silently into her knees. Feeling beyond desperate, she said a prayer to every god in the Greek pantheon that she thought might listen to her and might be of help that he wouldn’t hear her soft sniffle when she took in a breath. She knew that she could stay still enough not to be notice, but she worried that trying to breath while she was so distraught would instantly give her away.

Parker held her breath when she heard the door open and then close with a fairly loud thud. That was quickly followed up by the sound of heavy boots on the floor. Initially they sounded like they were walking towards the bathroom, so she took a chance and let out the breath she was still holding. Almost as soon as she took in another breath, she felt a strong hand grip her shoulder tightly enough that she was sure that she was going to have a bruise. She couldn’t help but to turn into the strong hold because she was worried that if she didn’t that she would be injured even more.

She opened her eyes to try to start to apologize to Spike for her current state, but her breath was instantly stolen away when she looked into a pair of foreign, light green, flaming eyes.


	12. Chapter 11

Acheron sat very still as he watched everyone settle around the table. Their search and rescue team had grown so much that Aimée decided to close the pub early so that they could put some tables together so that everyone would have a place to sit. The scene reminded him of all of the Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners to which Sanctuary had played host over the centuries. The contrast of why there were here now was evident on everyone’s grim faces and it made him that much more determined to make sure that Parker got home safe sooner than later.

He must have gotten more lost in thought than he had planned to because he was suddenly jostled out of his trance like state by Katra squeezing his hand under the table and quietly saying, “Dad? Are you okay?”

Ash tried to give his daughter a strong smile, but he couldn’t quite manage it as he answered, “Just thinking too hard.”

She didn’t need to hear anything more because she knew exactly what he meant. Everyone was slightly on edge because of Parkers disappearance, even people who didn’t really know her all that well. I wasn’t so much that they were concerned that a human had gone missing, it was more that someone or something was willing to kidnap a potential mate of a Were-Hunter and that they had no qualms with taking her from a well-known Limani. It was that last point that had brought more bodies to the meeting tonight because no one knew if this incident was a precursor to something more sinister or not.

As Fang settled into his seat beside Aimée, Acheron surveyed the faces of everyone present and felt conflicted whether he should feel happy or worried about the turnout. He was proud to see that so many people had been able to put their personal animosities aside to work together. In the next breath it was worrisome that they each had been through enough that they could immediately recognize that they had to band together to keep things from possibly getting worse.

Katra once again tried to give her father a strong smile as she reached over to taker her husband, Sin’s, hand into hers because she could practically read Acheron’s thoughts from the look on his face. Beside him sat Fang and then Aimée, Dave, Samia and Remi. At the other end (head) of the table was Otto, who was sitting beside Tate Bennett, a Dorean Squire who works as the Parish Coroner in New Orleans. Surprisingly Nick was seated next to Tate. He had told Aimée that since Parker had been called to New Orleans to be his Squire, he felt it was only right to try to help to find her. Aimée had been too surprised by his apparent generosity to reply and she had just point out an empty seat for him take. Nick felt no guilt that the human was missing, but he did feel a sense of duty to help find her. Parker was a pure soul who had done nothing to deserve what was happening to her, so he only wanted to help to right that wrong.

Rounding out the occupants of the other side of the table were Talon and Sunshine followed by Kyrian Hunter, a former Dark-Hunter who still called New Orleans home. Beside him was Julian Alexander. They had caught wind of Parker’s disappearance from Talon and they hoped that they might be of some help to the rescue effort by tapping into their connections with gods and goddesses of different pantheons as well as those found on Mount Olympus. Well the last part was more true for Julian because his mother is Aphrodite, the goddess of Love and Beauty.

There were a couple of empty seats by Julian that Acheron thought might be filled by Valerius or one of the other men’s wives, but Valerius had politely declined the invitation to join them all tonight. He explained that other than Artemis he had no interactions with anyone from Olympus and his presence at Sanctuary would likely cause more harm than good. That didn’t mean that he wasn’t willing to help, but first they needed a foe to fight before he could be of use. He also told Acheron that if they Atlantean thought that he could be of any assistance during that meeting that he was but a phone call away. Valerius reasoned that he could still be of assistance from afar and hopefully not be a hindrance any more than he needed to be. Acheron found it hard to argue with those profoundly logical and very eloquently stated points, so he let it go and chose instead to focus on the problem at hand.

Acheron looked over the motley crew he and Aimée had assembled and he almost laughed out loud. _Desperate times_ he thought to himself before he said, “I think that we’re all here now. Savitar told me to keep him in the loop because he’s ready to call the Omegrion together at a moment’s notice. He doesn’t look too favorably on anyone who interferes with someone’s mate, especially this early in the process.”

Remi couldn’t help but to snort in a laugh as he retorted, “He pretty much doesn’t look favorably on anyone.”

“That is true, Remi,” Acheron replied as he levelled the surly bear with a look. “But he’s an ally right now, so let’s try to keep from pissing him off too much.”

Remi shut his mouth and then mimed that he was using a key to lock them closed. Since he knew that Remi was feeling the time crunch the most while Parker was missing, Acheron was willing to allow him the odd outburst of frustration. He also knew that Remi was showing much more restraint than usual so he flashed the bear a brief smile of appreciation to show the other man that he not only sympathized but he also understood how hard this situation was for him.

“Alright,” Acheron stated to try to get them all back on track. He then turned to look at where Katra was now seated and all of his muscles relaxed so much that his smile looked completely natural once again. “Kat? Did you find out anything helpful from the Fates, your mom or anyone else?”

“No, I didn’t find out anything helpful while I was on Olympus,” she replied sounding rather grim. Her eyes raked over the majority of the faces at the table and she couldn’t help but to curse herself for always going for the tease instead of the straight answer right away. “But then I got a call from Seph… err Persephone. She’s with Hades right now in the Under World, so she was able to confirm that neither Parker, nor her soul are in the Elysian Fields, Tartarus or wandering the river’s shores to pay the Ferryman for a ride. I know it isn’t much, but at least we now know for sure that she isn’t there right now.”

“That is good to know,” Acheron agreed with another easy smile.

Although he tried hard not to, Remi let out a soft snort of derision and then he quietly said, “Except that I already knew that she isn’t dead.”

That comment earned Remi a couple of glances, but Katra ignored him to add, “I even talked to Grandma about the Fates to see if she could offer any pointers to get the truth out of them.”

Acheron was quite surprised about that revelation, but he kept his face devoid of any discernable emotions for the time being. “Oh? I wasn’t aware of that at all. How did that go for you?”

Shaking her head sadly Katra replied, “About as well as you might expect. Luckily I had brought the babies for a visit, so they helped to distract her from my stupid line of questions.”

“You’re trying to help,” Sin quietly stated as he squeezed her hand, “You were just trying to be creative and to think outside of the box.”

“Sin’s right,” Aimée quickly chimed in. “I for one am ready to ask Zeus himself for help at this point.”

Everyone around the table let out a soft groan or laugh at that comment. They all knew someone would have to be beyond desperate to turn to Zeus for any kind of aid because he was not one to help anyone unless it was for his own gain. Or extreme amusement. Or possibly to punish someone else, but mostly only if it helped him in some way.

Acheron gave Aimée a half smile answering, “Hopefully it won’t come to that. So Sin? Sunshine? Were either of you able to find out anything about someone who might be powerful enough to pull this off?”

Sin gestured towards Sunshine saying, “Ladies first.”

Everyone turned their attention towards Talon’s wife. She fidgeted slightly in her place as she hesitantly said, “My Gran…” She paused where that comment was met with looks of confusion from some of the people at the table so that she could quickly add, “She’s actually the Celtic goddess Morrígan. She said that there are a few in her pantheon that might have the power to do all of this but… but she doesn’t think that any of them would be dumb enough to risk it.”

Even though Sunshine stopped there, it looked like she still had more to say, so Katra gently prompted her by saying, “Sunshine, did she say something else to you?”

“Well… she also said that… well… let’s put it this way, your family’s pantheon isn’t the only one that likes to… to… get around.” Her cheeks turned a bright pink at thinking of some of the things her mother and grandmother had recounted to her when she had asked them for their help. “She also said that a few of them sought mates or consorts outside of gods and goddesses… some have even been known to have spent time with demons or demigods or the like, so they have offspring all over and their children might not care about the rules of decorum as much. They sort of complicate the issue too because there’s no way to really know what they are capable of without knowing who both their parents are and as you can imagine…”

“They don’t like to kiss and tell unless they’re bragging,” Acheron finished for her, trying not to let his irritation show too much. “Well that definitely expands our list of potential suspects quite a bit.”

“Yeah it does, I’m sorry,” Sunshine apologized sincerely. “She also said that she’ll keep asking around to try to narrow down the list. Or… well to be honest she’s really hoping to eliminate anyone from her pantheon because she’s really hoping none of her family would do this to anyone.” She then turned to Remi to add, “She knows that Parker is an old friend of Talon’s, so I know that’s fueling her desire to find her. And she wanted me to send her best as well as her promise that she will do everything in her powers to find your mate, especially is someone in her family is to blame.”

Talon wrapped his arm around his wife’s shoulders and hugged her into his side. He knew that she would have urged her grandmother to help them no matter what, but the added connection between the missing woman and her husband definitely made a difference, Parker had actually been able to come over for dinner a few times at their house and much like Talon had expected Parker had charmed her way into his family’s heart. In fact, Sunshine had taken such a liking to the younger woman that they had disappeared for almost an hour while Sunshine showed her the art studio she had at the house and some of the pieces she was currently working on.

Also not surprisingly, Declan, Talon and Sunshine’s son, had warmed up to the young Squire right away. While Talon helped Sunshine clear the table, Parker took Declan to the living room to play. By the time his parents joined the, Declan was asleep on the couch with his head in Parker’s lap. Sunshine then started calling Parker ‘The Toddler Whisperer’ and wouldn’t let the younger woman leave for the night until Parker promised that she would babysit for them at least for one night. Since she was starting her new job and her new relationship, Parker wasn’t sure how she would fit babysitting into her schedule, but she promised that she would because she wanted to spend more time with Talon and his family. Plus, she wanted to try to repay Talon for all of the times that he had hung out with her at Café du Monde so that her parents could run errands or something else when she was a little girl.

Talon squeezed Sunshine’s shoulder and kissed her head before saying, “We’ll find her, Sunny. I promise you that we will.”

Remi watched Talon comfort his wife and he felt his heart ache. Lately it had been from jealousy, but tonight it was different. When he looked around the table he realized that the main reason most of the people were here tonight was because of how Parker had connected to them and had positively affected their lives. Sure they all wanted to help him find his potential mate, but he knew that was an afterthought for most of them and strangely he actually felt no animosity about that at all.

Suddenly Remi watched as his right hand reached across the table to hold Sunshine’s arm as he said, “Thank you and your family for all that you have done… and are doing. We all really appreciate it. And I agree with your husband, we’ll find her. There’s no way we can’t with all of us working on it so hard.”

Sunshine gave him a slightly watery smile before she turned her eyes towards Talon as she said, “That’s what we do for family, right?”

“Right,” Talon and Remi agreed in unison while a few other voices murmured the same sentiment.

After everyone shared an unsure smile, Talon focused all of his attention on Remi’s face and then said, “With being said… once we get our girl home, bear, we need to have a sit down, just you and me.”

“Yeah, sure Gator Breath,” Remi replied trying to laugh off Talon’s comment.

Talon released his hold on Sunshine so that he could focus his full attention on Remi. To the bear’s credit he dropped his sarcastic air when he saw the former Dark-Hunter sit up at his full height. He knew this was a type of dominance display between the two of them and he didn’t want to prolong it any more than it had to last because they still had a lot of work to do ahead of them.

“I mean it, Remi, she has no biological family…” Talon started while trying to sound very authoritative.

Remi help up a hand then said, “I know, I know. Parker… she said that if she was the type to get married, that you’d be her choice to… well… you know like walk her down the aisle or whatever.” He held his hand out to show Talon his mating mark as he added, “Before we sit down for that chat, Old Man, I’ll tell you this: Parker is my mate… I know it with every fiber of my being, so my promise to her is to fulfill those duties fully and completely…” Remi swallowed a rare desire to get welled up before adding, “And I intend to do it with all of the love that I feel for her because Parker… she’s… she’s…”

“Something special,” Dev supplied for his brother.

Remi gave Dev a half smile saying, “Yeah… something like that.”

“Alright,” Talon replied in a relieved tone. “That’s what I wanted to hear. Now, back to the topic at hand.”

Sin sat up and opened his mouth to report his findings, but before he could utter a sound, everyone froze in their place when they heard the sound of the front door crash open. That was followed up by the sound of a woman laughing loudly. All of the men, Katra and Samia stood up looking like they were ready for a fight. Fang and Dev gently moved Aimée so that she was standing behind both of them. If she wasn’t pregnant she too would have gladly joined the fight, but as it was, she was grateful to have them taking care of her. Talon and Kyrian mirrored Fang and Dev’s actions with Sunshine as well. Since they were on the side of the table closest to the door, she slowly started to make her way towards Aimée to try to put some distance between herself and whomever was crashing their meeting.

The sound of the woman’s laughter was joined by a male who seemed to be saying something to keep his female companion in a comical mood. His words were still too quiet for anyone to hear them and they didn’t sound like they were in much of a hurry. They also didn’t seem to be trying to conceal their presence at all. Some of the men then let themselves relax slightly because usually when someone was looking for a fight they tried to have the element of surprise on their side.

“Alright, Losers who’s…?” The blond male with a lean, muscular build called out in a jovial voice. He stopped short when he entered the dining room and actually pulled the slender red-head who was hanging off his arm back a step.

Julian rolled his eyes and scoffed out an angry noise. As he reclaimed his seat, he stated in a low, incensed voice, “For the love of the gods Eros, what in Hades are you doing here?”

Eros smiled smugly at Julian answering, “Me? Why dear brother I should be asking you that. Did you get a day pass from your ball and chain to leave the house this late at night?”

Julian shot up to his feet nearly yelling, “Why you little…!”

“Enough!” Acheron called out over the rest of Julian’s insult. “We don’t have time right now to waste on petty squabbling. Eros? Psyche? Is there something you two needed?”

Eros looked like he was going to make another snide remark, so Psyche patted his arm to try to keep him quiet. She then took a small step forward and allowed herself to really take a good look at the scene that they had walked in on.

“We were in town so Eros and I thought we’d pop in to see if we could join in a game of poker or play a round of pool,” Psyche answered as she watched Fang help Aimée back into her seat. “But now I can see that we’re interrupting. Sorry about the intrusion, we… we’ll just go and leave you all alone.”

“Yeah, we’ll come back another night when the clientele isn’t so… intense,” Eros added with a cheeky grin. Everyone could tell that he wanted to say something else but had refrained because Acheron had already reprimanded him and his half-brother, Julian.

Katra then took a step forward and said, “Actually, you two might be able to help us with something.”

Eros and Psyche shared a look that said that they weren’t sure if they wanted to get involved in whatever had everyone in the room looking so grim. She then turned to decline, as politely as possible to keep from angering Acheron, when she saw Aimée’s face. The bearswan actually looked like she was relieved to see them both there based on what Kat had just said. It wasn’t often that anyone looked so excited to see them, so she let her curiosity get piqued and she now really wanted to know why Sanctuary had been closed early and why they were all meeting here tonight. But the most interesting to her was how her and her husband could be of help to them.

Eros still didn’t look like he wanted to get involved, so Psyche detached herself from him so that she could take a couple of steps towards Katra and ask, “How is it that you think that we can help you tonight, Kat?”

“You would be the woman to ask about soul mates, right?”

Not sure where this line of questioning was leading, Psyche gave the other woman a dubious look as she answered, “Yes, normally I am. Why do you ask?”

“Well, our friend has gone missing. She’s a Squire, so she knows her ways around the supernatural and yet she’s vanished into thin air somehow,” Katra started to explain.

“The new Squire in town? You don’t mean Parker, do you?” Eros cut-in before she could say anything else.

“Yes, that Squire,” Acheron replied sounding surprised that the got not only new her station but her name as well.

Psyche looked between the two men then asked, “Okay our new friend Parker has gone missing, but does that have to do with soulmates?”

Remi held up his left hand to show the newcomers his marked palm. While they moved closer to get a better look at it, Aimée explained, “We’re all pretty sure that she’s Remi’s mate and that their connection may go deeper than just a love match.”

Psyche gently took Remi’s left hand in both of her so that she could more closely inspect the intricate design. A small smile tugged at one edge of her lips as she said, “I knew there was someone else out there for you, bear.”

He pulled his hand out of her hold even before she had finished her sentence. She knew that Remi hated to be teased, especially when it came to his love life, but Psyche couldn’t resist. She had known from the beginning that Becca wasn’t Remi’s soulmate and that it wasn’t just the Fates being their usual spiteful selves that had caused her to be mated to one of his brothers (who just happened to be one of the other identical quadruplets in the Peltier clan). The only problem was that Psyche hadn’t ever been able to see the face of the woman that was his actual soulmate.

Aimée could see that her brother was starting to get annoyed with the goddess, so she jumped in asking, “Does that mean that you know if Parker actually is his soulmate? Because we’re hoping that if we can get that confirmed then we will also be able to know for sure that she’s his mate.”

“Isn’t the matching brand on her palm a little bit of a giveaway?” Eros asked letting the Were-Hunters hear how stupid that he thought that they were being by the tone of his voice.

“Well…” Aimée started hesitantly.

Acheron admired the bearswan’s resolve to try to take charge of trying to help to find Parker, but he knew that it was getting to be too much for her. He didn’t think that because he disrespected the woman, it was just that she was a mother to be and he knew how taxing that could be for anyone not only physically, but emotionally as well. Add that o the emotional toll of Parker’s abduction as well as her concern for her brother whose days were numbered before he would be forced to be celibate for the rest of his life and it was easy to see how it would be hard for anyone to cope with it all.

“You’re right,” Acheron answered taking over for Aimée. “But that’s another problem. We’re all pretty sure that whomever has taken Parker also hid her mating mark before they took her.”

“What? Who would do something like that?” Psyche asked sounding truly offended.

“And why would they do it?” Eros asked sounding genuinely curious. “I mean if they steal someone’s mate before the ritual can be completed…” He paused there when he saw Remi squirm slightly in his seat. “Oh… no… oh dude, you two didn’t get a chance…? Wow. Seriously bear, I’m so sorry to hear that.”

Remi just growled out a noise, so Aimée jumped in to say, “So Psyche, is there any way to tell us for sure if it’s Parker or not?”

Psyche shook her head answering, “I’m sorry. I wish it worked that way. When I saw Sunshine and Talon together I just knew that they were two halves of a whole. I’ve known that Rami has had a soulmate out in the world somewhere for a while now, but I’ve never been able to see her face.” She paused for a second and twirled a lock of her hair around her index finger as she mused, “Come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you and Parker together at all.”

“That’s true,” Eros chimed in as he wrapped his arms around Psyche’s waist and pulled her against him so that her back was pressed to his chest. “How is it that you and our little Squire managed to even get yourselves into a position to be mated if you’ve never really been alone.”

This time Remi didn’t suppress his desire to roll his eyes at the god of love and desire as he answered in a very annoyed tone, “Some of us like to keep our private lives, you know… private.”

“Oh, bear, you don’t have to be embarrassed by your human lover,” Eros replied in a tone that made it hard to decipher if he was taunting Remi or not. “I mean look at Julian. With the number of kids him and Grace have pumped out, we all know what they’re doing during their free time. There’s no shame in it. Right Julian? Although it is good to see that she lets you come up for air every once in a while.”

“Alright,” Talon called out as he stood up to move and be a physical barrier between the two brothers. “Look Eros, as much as I’d love to let you play another round of ‘Kick the Julian’, we’re on a bit of a time crunch. And I don’t just mean Remi’s predicament. Every hour that Parker isn’t home is an hour closer to us never seeing her again. I know I’m not the only person at this table who made a promise to her dad to help to keep her safe, but I for one intend to keep my promise. So? Can you two help us? Because if the answer is no, you know where the door is because they’re will be no poker games here tonight.”

Eros stood in his spot completely stunned by Talon’s outburst. He knew that his Celtic friend had a fiery temper, but he very, very rarely saw it. Instead the dog was used to receiving a good natured ribbing whenever he turned to the Dark-Hunter for a loan so that his wife wouldn’t find out how bad of a night he had had at the poker table.

Psyche was also slightly stunned by the outburst, but she was able to recover much more quickly than her husband. “Like I said before, until I see them together I can’t answer any of your questions with absolute certainty. I’m sorry, I wish there was more that I could do.”

“That’s alright,” Talon answered in his more usual calm tone. “That you for your honesty.”

“I could probably ask around to see what I can find out,” Eros finally answered as he led Psyche to the two empty chairs at the table. (Julian had moved over to where Remi had been seated in order to put as much physical distance between himself and his brother as he could.) “But would you mind running down a list of everyone that Kat has already harassed so that I don’t waste my time with anyone who already told you guys a whole lot of nothing?”

Katra chuckled then quickly gave all of the names that she had mentioned earlier in the meeting. Eros actually appeared to listen intently as he absorbed the information. When she was done he frowned then said, “Everyone that I would have thought to ask too. Well, I guess it sounds like I should drop in to pay mom a visit to see what she might know. Plus, she’s good at persuading people into telling her secrets they’d never think of telling anyone else, so maybe she can get the Fates to talk.”

“Honestly, right now we’re not in a position to ignore any possible avenue of investigation,” Acheron replied in a grateful tone.

“And it sounds like I should do that sooner than later,” Eros added as he stood up once again.

Psyche followed his lead and said to the group, “If anything comes to me or I can get anyone to talk to me, I’ll let Aimée know right away.”

“Thanks,” the bearswan answered with a soft smile.

The couple turned in unison to leave, but they were stopped by Talon. He thrust out his arm and Eros tentatively gripped the other man’s forearm just below the elbow. Talon returned the gesture without a moment’s hesitation saying, “I owe you a serious debt of gratitude for helping with this. Consider our deal final now.”

Eros’ eyes bugged out slightly as he replied, “Really?”

“Truly. It’s above and beyond the duty of an acquaintance to do this for Parker and I can’t put into words how much it means to me as well.”

“Well if I knew that’s all it…” Eros stared to reply with a teasing tone.

“No, she’s started to become our friend too,” Psyche stated over the rest of her husband’s sentence. “And he will be paying you back Talon.” She caught the look that Eros gave her, so she let out a loud laugh then added, “Baby, I know how much you suck at poker when you can’t use your powers. And I know that the only nights that you’ve come home a winner lately have been the ones when you’ve played against Parker. She says that you’ve been teaching her how to play so when she gets home that is exactly what you are going to start doing instead of stealing her money.”

Eros had the grace to look sheepish as he replied, “Yes dear.”

Eros and Psyched then disappeared from the dining room. Everyone remained silent for a few seconds while they all took stock of everything. Although they were no closer to finding Parker, they definitely had more help than they initially had anticipated.

Once they were all settled in their seats again, Sin sat forward then said, “Well not to sound like a broken record, but I found out basically the same information as Sunshine. The only difference is that my family would have no qualms kidnapping anyone for any reason. Your Fates aren’t from our pantheon so they really don’t care what plans they’ve made for Were-Hunters. But with that being said, no one has admitted to knowing anything about your missing human, sorry.”

“That’s alright,” Acheron replied. “Thank you again for trying.” He then stood up and said, “Well I think we’ve done all that we can tonight, I’m going to do some patrols and then I’m going to call it a night.”

Remi moved over to Acheron’s side and extended his hand as he said in a very sincere tone, “Thank you for everything Atlantean. You’ve gone above and beyond and I truly appreciate your help.”

Acheron shook his hand, much in the same way that Talon had with Eros, replying, “I think we all feel responsible for her safety because of Jimmy and you know I’m always here to help you all, bear.”

He then turned and walked to the front door. Normally he would teleport from one place to the next, but he figured that he could patrol as he walked home tonight. He also wanted to take some time to collect his thoughts, so if he didn’t run into any Daimons, he figured that the walk home would allow him to do that as well.

Julian, Talon and Sunshine shared a few more words with Aimée, Dev and Remi before they too made their departure for their homes. Katra and sin hung back for a few minutes to help put the tables and chairs back where they belonged so that the bar would be in working order come morning. She also wanted to share a few words with Aimée to ensure that the mother to be was taking good care of herself. Katra knew that this was a very stressful time for everyone in the Peltier Clan, but she also knew that a pregnancy weighed very heavily on the mind of a first time mother. Plus, Aimée had yet another added stress of her mate not being of the same species, which also added the possibility of everything becoming more difficult. Gods willing that wouldn’t be an issue, but she knew it would be in the back of everyone’s mind until the baby, or babies, were born.

Once Kat saw Fang ushering his wife towards Peltier House, via the kitchen, she cautiously approached Remi to quietly ask, “So was D’Alerian able to help you out at all?”

Remi startled in his place at hearing her quiet question because he thought that everyone had left for the night. When he turned to face her, the demi-goddess could see the lost look in his eyes and she instantly feared the worst. She and Remi had discussed a few options and they both hope that one of the Dream-Hunters would be able to connect with Parker to confirm that she was safe, alive or at the very least still on the mortal plain. But seeing that look on his face made her worry that they had been way off base on all counts.

“So they…? He couldn’t…?”

“Oh no, Kat it’s nothing like that,” Remi finally replied over her disjointed questions. “No, your suggestion was pretty perfect. It took a while to find her so I worried that meant the worst, but then D’Alerian found her.”

Kat moved in closer to him and put a comforting hand on his forearm, “Well that’s a good thing, right?”

Remi shrugged answering, “I hope so.”

“Remi?” She asked knowing that he was leaving something out by the tone of his voice.

Remi let out a heavy sigh and sat down on a chair he had just pushed in at a table. Kat followed his lead and sat down as well. Neither of them noticed that Sin had disappeared, which left them alone.

He didn’t look like he was going to say anything else, so Kat tried prompting him by asking, “What happened to make you think that finding her wasn’t a good thing? Wasn’t Parker ecstatic to see you?”

“Well at first she was just confused,” Remi explained slowly. “Once I convinced her that it was really me and that I really had found her in the land of Morpheus, she… she… I don’t really know how to describe it.”

Kat settled in her seat and said, “Why don’t you just tell me what happened, Remi? You don’t have to explain any of it, just tell me where you went and what you both said.”

“Okay… yeah… I think I can do that,” he replied. “First we were at Talon’s cabin. That had sort of become our secret hideaway. Then after that we went to a pub, which I’m pretty sure is a re-occurring dream for her since she was telling someone off like I know she would love to do in person, but… but… well she really is too much of a Sweetheart to do that in real life. Then she brought us back to Peltier House before everything went black again.”

“So then she knew that you really were with her?”

Remi let out another heavy sigh before he said, “Yeah, she did and that seemed to have caused her the most distress. Well, at least it did after… uhh… after…”

Katra knew that Remi was a very private person, so she could only imagine how hard it was for him to talk to her. With that thought in mind she held her hand up as she said, “It’s okay Remi. I know whatever you two shared in the dream realm was probably pretty personal. You and I really aren’t all that close so you don’t have to share it with me. Really, it’s okay.”

“No,” he quickly replied. “No, I know most of you have been close with her longer than I have so maybe… I don’t know… maybe you’ll understand… understand everything better than me.”

Seeing the tears welling in his eyes caused Katra’s heart to break slightly as she replied, “All I can promise is to tell you the truth, bear. So please tell me whatever it is you want me to interpret.”

He gave her a soft smile then said, “Well I guess that’s the best that I could hope for right now. So before she disappeared, we never told each other, I mean we never…” He paused then took in a deep breath to center himself before continuing, “I finally told her that I loved her, in her dream that is and… and that seemed to be what set her off the most. You know, it made her freak out the worst.”

“Freak out?” Kat questioned with mild disbelief in her tome because she knew that pretty much everyone she knew longed to be told those words and when they found someone that truly felt that way about them, well they never wanted to let that person go and did whatever they could to hold onto them. “What do you mean by that? I mean… what did she say exactly?”

“Well,” he started slowly, no really wanting to relive those moments with Parker again, especially in front of someone else. “Well after I told her… that, she… she told me that she couldn’t let herself feel that way for me anymore. She said that since she couldn’t make the matching mating mark appear in her dream that we really weren’t meant to be together. She also said… well she said that she couldn’t let herself love me anymore… more than once. That was when everything went black again in her dream. I could still hear her crying but I couldn’t see her and then… well then I just woke up again in my room, alone.”

“Wow, she must really have it bad for you,” Katra replied in a mildly awed tone.

Remi frowned at that comment as he asked, “You think so?”

“Yes, I do. I don’t think she would have reacted so strongly if she had no feelings for you.”

“Yeah, you could have a point there. But what about the mating mark? She said that she was trying really hard to make it appear but it wouldn’t at all.” He asked letting her hear some of the hope in his tone. I sounded to him like Katra understood Parker’s train of thought so he hoped that she would be able to answer some of his more pressing questions with the same insight.

Kat gave him a sympathetic smile then said, “Maybe whatever spell her kidnapper is using has made it so that she can’t conjure it up, even in a dream. Or maybe they’ve made it so that wherever she is right now, the magic of our pantheon doesn’t work very well. Huh… that could also explain why it was so hard for D’Alerian to find her.”

“I hope you’re right Kat, I really do because if you aren’t then I am totally and completely screwed.” Kat frowned at that comment because she wasn’t completely sure what he meant by that. He caught the look on her face and explained, “I had one woman I… well she was mated to my brother so the chances that Parker and I are nothing more than really, really close friends doesn’t seem all that farfetched.”

“Remi,” she breathed out with a sad sigh. “I honestly don’t think Dad would be pushing that you two are a love match so much if he truly didn’t believe that it was the truth.”

“I know and again I hope that you’re right about that Kat, I really do. Thanks again for your help. Good night,” Remi replied as he stood up and slowly made his way out of the dining room.

Kat remained seated while she watched him leave because hearing his tone of voice made her want to do more for him. Remi had his faults, she knew that he did because she had yet to meet anyone that didn’t, but he didn’t deserve this. He didn’t deserve to be left in limbo by the Fates or some unknown god or anyone else for that matter and neither did Parker. From what she had been told and had learned, neither of them had ever done anything to be intentionally cruel to anyone and Parker had seemed to go out of her way to help out others and make them feel welcomed wherever she was. How could either of them have earned the wrath of any god or goddess? Or why had they been chosen for such a cruel twist of fate?

Feeling more frustrated and further form any concrete answer than she ever had before, Kat flashed herself out of Sanctuary. It didn’t take her long once she got home to find her husband coming out of a room and carefully closing the door. He hadn’t noticed that she had returned home so she was afforded the rare luxury of watching her fierce, warrior husband as he settled into his domestic role.

Every time that she was around Remi, Katra was reminded of how quickly she had misread Sin the first time she had seen him in New York City. If anyone, include her mom or dad, had popped in right then when she had first seen him in action and told her that not only would she fall in love with him but that they’d marry and he’d be the father of her children, Kat would have blasted them into oblivion. And yet here she was. How could she not want to help Parker and Remi when she saw so many similarities between their relationship and her own?

With that last clarifying thought, she resolved to do everything in her power to help both of them. First, though, she wanted to remind her husband about how much she loved him. After that she would be ready to help tackle the oddities of someone else’s complicated love affair.

PARKER KNEW THAT SHE was petite, so she knew that if she tried hard enough that she could occupy a very small area of space. Right now that meant that she cowered into the top left-hand corner of the bed and into the corner of the wall of the cabin. She knew that it would be hard to see her from the door and she could only hope that Spike wouldn’t see or hear her for a while and he would incorrectly assume that she was in the bathroom.

Despite her best efforts, Parker continued to cry silently into her knees. Feeling beyond desperate, she said a prayer to every god in the Greek pantheon that she thought might listen to her and might be of help that he wouldn’t hear her soft sniffle when she took in a breath. She knew that she could stay still enough not to be notice, but she worried that trying to breath while she was so distraught would instantly give her away.

Parker held her breath when she heard the door open and then close with a fairly loud thud. That was quickly followed up by the sound of heavy boots on the floor. Initially they sounded like they were walking towards the bathroom, so she took a chance and let out the breath she was still holding. Almost as soon as she took in another breath, she felt a strong hand grip her shoulder tightly enough that she was sure that she was going to have a bruise. She couldn’t help but to turn into the strong hold because she was worried that if she didn’t that she would be injured even more.

She opened her eyes to try to apologize to Spike, but her breath was quickly stolen away when her gaze was met with a pair of foreign green eyes. Without giving it any thought she scooted further into the corner of the wall behind her as if her subconscious mind thought that she would be safer if there was more distance between them.

He didn’t move at all but the flames in his eyes did flare up much like a fire would when it had fuel poured onto it. Parker was sure that meant that something about her presence in the cabin had angered him. So she tried her best not to move at all to keep from fueling his wrath. That also meant that she held her breath while she willed herself to be invisible. She knew there was little to no chance that she would disappear, but then again stranger things had happened so she figured it was at least worth a try.

While Parker was practically trembling with fear and uncertainty, the unknown male let out an angry sounding noise and then he quietly, but violently cursed out, “Damn it Little Brother! Why did you have to make them right? Damn it!”

Parker jumped and squeaked out a surprised noise when he reached out and touched her arm again. He gave her an unimpressed look and then said, “Come on human, it’s time to get you home before my dumb ass brother gets back.”

There was something about the look in his eyes that made Parker feel uneasy so she tried to practically melt into the wall as she replied, “Uhh… thank you anyways, but I think I’ll just take my chances with your brother.”

The irises of his eyes flared like an angry fire once again. He didn’t seem to notice that each time that happened that Parker tried to shrink away from him. She knew it was useless to press herself into the wall because there was nowhere for her to go, but she still kept trying to get as far away from his as possible.

The unknown intruder appeared to take up even more space in the room as he approached the bed and replied, “I don’t believe that I made it a question, HUMAN.” He spat out the word ‘human’ so violently that Parker actually flinched at hearing it. He then grabbed her arm and started to drag her across the mattress adding in the same annoyed, angry tone, “Now come on, you’re going home… now!”

Parker had no choice but to move with him, lest he dislocate her shoulder or elbow. That didn’t seem to appease him at all because his eyes still appeared to be filled with an angry fire. That was probably the part that Parker feared the most, but it was also the reason that she wanted to appease him as much as possible right now as well.

His grip slackened slightly, so Parker gently pulled her arm out of his hold and said, “Look, it isn’t that I don’t appreciate the rescue attempt, but I don’t know you at all. Plus, I don’t know who sent you or if you really are going to take me home, so I’m sorry, but I’d very much rather just take my chances here since I know what to expect here.”

He let out another violent curse that Parker couldn’t hear and then he took in a deep breath to calm himself down somewhat. He stood in his place with clenched fists looking like he was trying not to physically las out at her comment before replying, “I’m an associate of your friend Fang. Is that good enough for you?”

Although she truly wasn’t trying to be difficult, Parker folded her arms over her chest as she scowled saying, “Fang and I aren’t exactly what anyone would call ‘friends’.”

As he rolled his eyes he let out an angry scoff then retorted, “Fine, I’m an associate of your friend’s mat. Is that better?”

“Sure it is, but that still doesn’t tell me who you are or why I should trust you at all.”

“Seriously?” He could see that she wasn’t going to budge, so he again let out a loud exhale of air and sounded like he had to force himself to keep his voice even as he said slowly, “Fine… let’s try this… I’m your… I guess you would call him your captor… well whatever, I’m his brother and a friend of a friend of a friend or whatever… Before you say anything else, my name is Thorn. It isn’t a pleasure to make your acquaintance, but here I am. Now that is more words than I have offered any other mortal, so now will you come with me?”

“Well… I want to say ‘yes’,” Parker replied as she started to move off of the bed on her own. “But that still doesn’t really explain how you knew that I was here.”

Thorn literally threw his hands up in the air before saying, “I actually had no idea that you would be here. In fact, I was really hoping that you would be ANYWHERE but here.” He saw Parker open her mouth to question him further, so he threw his right hand out to paralyze her vocal chords, at least temporarily… maybe. “Fang came sniveling to me about trying to help him and his mate to find you. I, of course, had no clue where to look and frankly I really didn’t care to try either. Then I had to ask my brother something, he wouldn’t answer me by our usual means, so I came simply just to talk to him. As you already know, he isn’t here, but voilà! Looks like I found the missing Squire everyone and their dog is worried about! It’s nothing more and nothing less than a fluke, so don’t let your head get big about me being here as a one-man rescue mission or anything.”

Parker tried to ask him something, but she ended up just mouthing the words as if someone had hit the mute button on a video of her. When she realized that she couldn’t utter a sound, Parker threw both of her hands up to her throat as tears started to spill down her cheeks. That reaction of course bothered Thorn, but only because it meant that he was no closer to getting the young human home than he had previously.

He then snapped his fingers and said in an annoyed tone, “You can cease with the waterworks, you can talk again.”

Parker bit her lip while she tried to calm her tears, but it didn’t work. Although her tears continued to fall at an alarming rate, Parker managed to keep her voice steady as she asked, “So does that mean that I really get to go home? Really?”

Thorn held out his hand and tried his best not to sound as angry as he felt when he replied, “Yes, it does. But only if you come with me right now.”

“Okay, but first…” Parker started as she reached her hand out to him.

“My patience is wearing very thin, human,” Thorn said to her over her sentence in a warning tone.

“Hold on a sec,” she said in an overly sweet tone.

Parker didn’t pay his tone of voice any attention as she moved towards the washer and dryer close to the bathroom. He watched in silence as Parker pulled a load of clothes out of the dryer and dumped it onto the floor. Watching her was mildly amusing for Thorn so he continued to watch her in silence as she grumbled to herself as she angrily snatched out a few articles of clothing out of the pile. She continued to ignore him as she moved around the room still cursing quietly to herself.

When she pulled out her suitcase, Parker’s movements were so erratic due to her enraged state that she ended up dumping almost all of its contents onto the floor. She looked up and glared at Thorn like it was his fault that that had happened and he very nearly flinched, but he refused to show that kind of weakness to anyone, especially a human.

As she repacked belongings, well it was more like she was throwing her clothes at her suitcase hoping that they would land where they belonged, Parker said with an annoyed bite, “I assume that if I’m being rescued that I get to take home all of the stuff that Spike brought with me when he kidnapped me. I mean, I can, can’t I?”

Thorn was surprised by Parker’s petulant tone of voice, but instead of addressing it he asked the first question that popped into his head and said, “Spike?”

Parker scoffed then retorted snottily, “Yeah, Spike. Don’t you know your own brother’s name?”

“Spike? Oh… no…” Thorn groaned and then rolled his eyes. “Is that seriously the best that he could come up with?”

“Well, when you take him to human bars he goes by ‘Ian’, so I’m sure he has aliases that would be more to your liking, but he didn’t tell me all of the names that he likes to use,” she replied heatedly without looking up from her packing.

Thorn watched her again in silence while she continued to work and then suddenly he heard himself say, “My, you are a sassy one, aren’t you?”

“Well you’re being a self-righteous prick, so what would you expect from me?”

Thorn moved to Parker’s side so fast that she hadn’t seen him do it at all. She then jumped when he grabbed one of her arms to still her motion and wrench it back. Parker didn’t have any time to react before he twirled her around to face him causing her suitcase to fall to the ground again.

“What I expect from you is a little bit of gratitude and a lot less lip,” Thorn replied in an incensed tone as he once again pulled her arm back at an awkward angle. This time Parker fell to her knees and let out a soft cry of distress. Thorn smiled at her discomfort then said, “That’s much better. Now, let’s try this again. I’m taking you home human, are you ready to go?”

“Yes,” Parker sobbed out. “Yes, well… ow… almost. Please… please, just let me make sure that I have everything he took with me, please?”

His grip on her arm slackened, but only slightly before he answered, “Since you were polite enough to say please, yes you can double check. I’ll give you thirty seconds… starting now.”

Parker stared at him for a couple of breaths as she rubbed her now free arm to try to get the circulation going again in it. Thorn could care less if he hurt the human at all, so when he saw her remain virtually immobile in her place, he just tapped the back of his wrist with two fingers saying, “Tick tock human. You’re down to twenty-four seconds now.”

Parker’s mouth gaped open in disbelief and she didn’t start moving until she heard him say, “Twenty-three, twenty-two…” After that she shot up to her feet and she quickly dumped the suitcase onto the bed. She tried to fold everything as fast as possible, but that just made a mess, so she started to be more meticulous about how she folded all of her clothing that she was placing into her case.

When Parker was very nearly finished packing, she and Thorn heard the front door being unlock. He wasn’t sure how his brother normally left the human alone in his cabin, so Thorn slammed her suitcase closed and then picked Parker up, bridal style. She started to complain, but then she too heard the lock of the door turning and she silenced herself immediately.

“We need to go now,” Thorn ordered as he pressed her into his chest so that he could pick up her suitcase’s handle.

Parker wrapped her arms around his neck and burrowed her face into it because she knew that with Spike making his way inside that Thorn was more than right. Although Spike had always been kind and cordial to her, Parker was more than ready to be away from him. Well not so much away from him, but more like she just wanted to be home. She now had a new appreciation for the luxuries she had in her life and she was more than ready to return to the craziness of her old life.

It didn’t take long for Thorn to notice that Parker was complying with his wishes without compliant, so he pressed her against him once again and whispered, “Hold on tight human.”

Parker didn’t reply beyond squeezing her arms around his neck. Thorn then flashed them back to her room at Peltier House. One of the advantages of being… well him was that he didn’t have to follow the same rules as he Were-Hunters. If Thorn wanted to go somewhere, that’s where he went, when he wanted to, everyone else be damned. Or so to say.

He started walking towards Parker’s bed when he heard her start to whimper softly. At first he tried to ignore it but then he felt moisture on his neck gathering at an alarming rate. Thorn wasn’t what that was, but he was sure that it couldn’t take long for Parker to tell him what was wrong now since she didn’t seem to instinctively fear him like most humans he had met did.

Just as he had predicted Parker whimpered softly again then quietly complained, “Ow…! Ow! OW!” Her voice started to gain volume with each word until she was seated up to look at his face so that she could more clearly ask, “Thorn what are you doing? I let you bring me home. Why are you hurting me?”

“I’m not,” he retorted incredulously.

Parker scowled at him and tried to bring her hand from around his neck to show him as she replied heatedly, “Yes you are! My hand has never hurt this badly before. Well it did that one time that I grabbed an iron out of the fire without…”

Sudden they both realized that her right palm was starting to feel a burning sensation out of nowhere. Thorn figured out what that meant first and tapped Parker’s forehead to put her to sleep. After she was rendered unconscious he practically dumped her onto her bed and then dropped her suitcase onto the floor beside the bed with a loud thud.

He knew that his brother had screwed up but it wasn’t until now that he realized how badly Spike had truly fucked up. Thorn didn’t want to confront him with this, so he paced around Parker’s bed for a few minutes while he tried to figure out what to do next.

Maybe he could find the bears and bring them to her. But that might be an admission of guilt and this time (at least) he had done nothing for which he had to feel sorry. Okay, maybe he was the one that brought his half-brother to Sanctuary, but that didn’t make him responsible for Spike abducting Parker, right?

Parker let out another whimper in her sleep as she tossed and turned on her bed. One of her movements caused her to throw both of her hands over her head. At first Thorn tried to just ignore her in order to orchestrate his damage control in his head, but then curiosity got the best of him.

Cautiously he approached Parker’s side and as soon as he saw both of her palms he cursed out a very emphatic, “SHIT!”

 


	13. Chapter 12

Thorn decided to go with the ‘less is more’ angle about Parker’s rescue. (Meaning the less he said the less likely he was to hurt someone, especially someone innocent like Aimée when they tried to press him for details.) That also meant that he had just left the human to sleep in her room while he returned to his dark nether realm. He figured that either Parker would wake up to find one of the bears or one of the bears would stumble into her room and find her. Which scenario happened first really didn’t matter much to him. The human was home and he had to go speak to his half-wit brother to make sure that he didn’t return to seek out Parker again anytime soon.

But first Thorn had to make a quick stop to try to recruit re-enforcements. He had teased and taunted his brother too many times to think that he’d just take Thorn at his word about any subject. Of course there weren’t many beings from any pantheon that could or would scare Thorn’s brother enough to leave a human alone, but it was still worth a try. Plus, if this didn’t work then Thorn still had a couple of heavy guns still left in his arsenal to stop Spike form doing anything stupid.

Barring all of that, he also had the option of blasting his little half-brother into oblivion. Thorn would never admit it to anyone, dead or alive, but that was something that he wasn’t absolutely sure that he would be able to do. He hated the thing that donated the sperm that spawned hi and his brother, but he always did whatever he to look after his little brother because most of the time they were all each other had. Before Spike had taken Parker to the cabin, Thorn had been the only other being to have ever seen the secluded refuge. That was the kind of trust one only afforded family or a very, very close friend, so Thorn new that the two of them shared a unique bond that wasn’t easily forged or understood beyond the two of them.

No, he would convince Spike to leave Parker alone because she wasn’t worth losing his life over. Or at least that’s what Thorn hoped that he’d be able to get his little brother to believe.

WHEN PARKER WOKE UP, she stretched out to relish the relaxed feeling that came over her after such a sound sleep. She kept her eyes closed as she savored the feelings of being so refreshed after a good night’s sleep. It had been a long while since she had slept so soundly and deeply. In fact, the last time she could remember feeling this way was on a day off that she spent with Remi at Talon’s cabin. She had fallen asleep after more than one round of intense love making with him and then she woke up to the smell of fresh coffee brewing that Remi had made to go with their afternoon snack.

That memory nearly made Parker want to sob, so she forced herself to sit up on the bed. She then wiped a small amount of moisture from her eyes and swiped an arm under her nose to try to prepare herself for being awake. Lately her dreams had been so lucid that they almost felt like memories of her being with Remi. Most of the time they were together at Talon’s cabin or in one of their rooms at Peltier House. Then there was that one odd dream where Remi had actually professed his love for her after she had told Otto off in an English pub in a way that she had only day-dreamed about for nearly half a decade.

Although she had woken up with an odd sense of satisfaction after each of those dreams, she had woken up away from home all the same. She had actually begun to wonder if there was something about Spike’s cabin that had allowed her to have such dreams. Sure she had always felt completely at ease there, but maybe that had something to do with her subconscious allowing itself to play out some of her wilder fantasies, like Remi actually being in love with her. Or him going to a Dream-Hunter to try to find her.

Then again maybe there was a spell or something on Spike’s cabin that drove any mortal in it to insanity. That would help to explain a lot of the things that she had said and done with him while she was there. Well at least it would be the easiest excuse for the majority of it.

With another swipe over her closed eyes, Parker forced herself to make a resolve to open her eyes and face the day. She had never allowed herself to be a coward, so there was no way she was going to start that today. Spike wasn’t the worst kidnapper on the planet. He hadn’t hurt her or forced her to do anything weird or sexual. Sure cooking had never been one of her hobbies in the past, but then again he hadn’t forced her to do that either. He probably would have been more than happy to have been the household chef, but that hadn’t sat well with Parker. She wasn’t used to being waited on, nor was she someone who could remain idle for long periods of time, so cooking seemed like the best resolution.

She took in a deep breath before she forced herself to open her eyes. Once they were opened she gasped in a breath and quickly slammed them shut because she couldn’t believe what she had just seen. Instead of the sparsely furnished cabin deep in the woods somewhere that she had yet to identify, Parker’s eyes had landed on her closet that looked like it was still in disarray after she had ripped some close off of their hangers after she had found out that Remi had been mated to someone. Someone that wasn’t her because an identical mating mark hadn’t magically appeared on her hand at the same time that it had for him.

She wasn’t his mate, right? _I can’t be_ Parker thought to herself as she rubbed her eyes with the fists of both of her hands. Maybe she was dreaming again and she just had to remind herself of where she was so that she wouldn’t continue to hallucinate that she had someone returned home.

 _Okay Parker, time to face the music,_ she coached herself as she forced herself to open her eyes once again. Much to her surprise she once again found herself in her bedroom at Peltier House.

“Holy shit!” She exclaimed quietly to herself. She barely moved on the bed because she was still afraid that it was all some kind of mirage or cruel hallucination. But she was still set on finding out the truth, so she moved her left hand in front of herself as she said, “Okay, here goes nothing.”

As she turned her am over, Parker opened her hand so that she could look at her palm. She exhaled a disappointed breath because the only mark that she could see was the double bow and arrow she had inked on herself not long after her graduation. Sadly, her palm was devoid of any unnatural markings and was only marred by the lines that gypsies used to predict someone’s future.

 _IDIOT!_ She mentally chastised herself. _He didn’t look at your left hand._ Her right hand was still in a fist so she said a quick prayer to Eros, Psyche, the Fates and anyone on Olympus that she could think of that might be of even the tiniest bit of help that she wouldn’t have a boring, totally human palm when she opened her fist.

“Okay. Come on… just do it,” she ordered herself out loud. “It’s the only way that you’ll find out the truth. Come on. On the count of three. One… two…”

She opened her fist with the palm facing down because she was afraid of what it would reveal. She knew that she was being a bit of a coward, but that didn’t seem to bother her right now. If nothing had changed then she would be right back where she started, needing to find somewhere else to live. The most depressing part about that was that if she still wasn’t Remi’s mate then she wished that Thorn would have just left her at Spike’s cabin so that she wouldn’t be faced with the sad reality that was her life every single day.

 _Alright, come on. Quit being such a wuss,_ she told herself as she turned her hand over. Even though she really did want to know the truth, she subconsciously had closed her eyes when she started to turn her hand over. If anyone had told her that looking at her palm was going to be such a challenge, Parker would have laughed at them and told them that was the stupidest thing that she had ever heard.

And yet here she sat, forcing herself that she had to stop being such a wimp. She had trained long and hard to work with fierce, ancient warriors so there was no reason that she shouldn’t be able to handle looking down at her own stupid hand.

Very slowly she opened one eye and then the other. For a couple of seconds she felt so shocked that her mind went completely blank. It wasn’t often that she wished or prayed for anything for herself because the last time that she did, she felt like her prayers had fallen on deaf ears because her mother had still died. Since then she found that whenever she caught herself praying, it was never actually in earnest because she didn’t actually expect anything to happen. It was just an odd habit that she had somehow formed over the years. Plus, she like the fact that any awards or accolades that were bestowed on her were the result of her own hard work and effort. Parker had become an expert marksman because she had worked so hard and diligently, not because Artemis decided to be in a good mood and gift her with the extra talent.

As she continued to stare at her hand, the image of the attacking bear claw started to blur. For a second she worried that it was because the mating mark wasn’t really on her palm and that it was a cruel illusion, but then a tear dripped off her chin and onto her wrist. Her vision cleared for a bi but then it blurred again almost as quickly because her tears started to fall at an alarmingly fast rate.

“Thank the gods,” Parker whispered to herself as she pressed her now balled up right fist to her heart.

Finally, her prayers had been answered and this time it was with the outcome that she had actually desired. She was in fact Remi’s mate. Spike had done something to keep it from appearing before he stole her away from her bed. Just the thought of how much power he must possess that she wasn’t even aware of caused her to shudder in her place. Luckily for her he liked her because the thought of what he might be capable of if he didn’t was truly scary. And if anything happened to her, then…

“Remi!” She nearly shouted as she jumped up off the bed.

Parker’s thoughts were so focused on Remi that she completely forgot that she was just wearing her pajamas right then. It also slipped her mind that she was still missing to everyone so anyone she ran into would have questions about when she got back, how she had gotten back, who had taken her and so on.

But none of that came to mind at all because right now her mind was completely focused on one single thought: Remi.

Parker rushed out of her room and hadn’t made it more than two steps before she ran into someone, literally. He grabbed her by both of her shoulders to keep her from falling over. Once he had a couple of seconds for him to focus on her face and recognize her, he exclaimed, “Holy shit! Parker… is that really you?”

She slipped out of his now slack grasp replying, “Yeah Dev, it’s me. Have you seen Remi?”

“I think I saw him taking out the trash a little while ago, but…” he answered sounding like he was thinking about the rest of his answer.

“Outside… alley… got it. Thanks Dev,” Parker interrupted as she stepped around him to continue her path towards the stairs.

Dev quickly grabbed Parker’s right arm when he realized that she was going to head outside without saying anything else to him. Not only that, she was barefoot and in her pajamas. That wasn’t exactly pat of the bar’s dress code. He also didn’t think that it was smart for her to go into the dingy alleyway without wearing shoes. And he definitely knew that it wouldn’t be good for his health if his overprotective sister caught wind of him allowing their ‘Cub’ to so something so reckless and dangerous.

“Whoa! Parker! Hold up a sec,” he said as he tried to move her closer to him. “How did you get back? WHEN did you get back?”

At first Parker started to struggle out of Dev’s hold, but she knew he was physically stronger than her, so struggling would only result in her getting hurt. Instead she let her whole body go lax and took a step towards Dev. She was hoping that if she gave in a little right now then she’d be able to continue her search for her mate that much quicker.

 _My mate,_ she thought to herself in a dreamy tone.

She remained in her own thoughts until she felt Dev tug on her hand a little harder than he meant to do as he exclaimed, “Holy shit! Parker is that what I think it is?”

Parker cradled her hand against her chest then answered, “It is. That’s why I need to find him.”

That comment seemed to slip a switch for Dev because suddenly he was no longer the easy-going bear she had grown up knowing. Instead he was more like the caricature of a father to be who didn’t seem to know which way was up and was nearly so frantic that he couldn’t speak in full sentences when he found out his wife was going into labor.

After a couple of minutes of rambling to himself, Dev gripped Parker by the shoulders as if she had been the one who had been pacing back and forth like he had just been doing. “Okay, I’ll see if I can find him. You get changed or… or at least put on some shoes because Aimée will kill me if I let you out of the house barefoot.”

That comment caused Parker to look down the length of her body. She frowned because she hadn’t remembered that she was still wearing her pajamas. In truth, once she saw her right palm she had complete tunnel vision and wasn’t thinking about anything but finding Remi. Now, though, she just frowned at her outfit and wondered if this was what she wanted to be wearing when she saw him for the first time. Well, for the first time as his mate that is.

“I need to change,” she mumbled absentmindedly to herself.

Dev suppressed the urge to chuckle as he turned her around by her shoulders and answered, “That sounds like a good plan, Cub. You go and do that and I’ll find your… your… uhh Remi.”

Dev couldn’t find it in himself to call Remi her mate because even after nearly two weeks the concept was still too strange to him. His little Parker, the strawberry blond little girl who used to follow him around while asking a million questions while fiddling with her pigtails was now a full grown woman. One who had finished school and was now ready to start the next chapter in her life. One who now…

Dev shook his head to clear the rest of that thought away because he didn’t like where that train of thought was going. He really didn’t want to think about Parker having sex with anyone, let alone one of his brothers. And Remi… well he didn’t need to think about his sex life at all, ever.

Still shuddering from that last thought, almost physically, Dev rushed down the hall to the stairs. He really wanted to teleport himself to the bar at Sanctuary, but it was day time, which of course meant he was supposed to get from Point A to Point B only by the power of his own two legs. Heck, today was actually supposed to be his day off and he had headed up to Parker’s room only to appease his sister. (Aimée was convinced that Parker might show up back in her room so she had been checking her room periodically to see if it was true. Dev still wasn’t sure how he got roped into checking also, but if you were to ask him he would blame it on his love for his sister and not his own curiosity. Although the latter was just as strong.)

As he made his way to the first floor, Dev stopped as he watched his sister making her way up the stairs. As a pregnant werebear, Aimée was forced not to teleport no matter the hour of the day, but Dev was somewhat shocked to see her all the same. She was watching her feet as she made her way up the stairs because she didn’t want to trip so she didn’t notice Dev making his way down them towards her.

“Aimée?” He called out softly.

She stopped mid-step and looked up at him with a tear-filled smile on her face as she replied, “She’s home.”

Dev tried not to look startled, but he failed miserably. She huffed out a laugh then added, “Big Brother, I know things, wield magic and have for a while without any of you giving me credit, so don’t look so surprised.”

By this time Dev was following Aimée as she ascended the stairs. Somehow, even in her ‘burdened’ state, she was able to put a lot of square footage between them before Dev had a chance to catch up to her.

When he finally did, Dev caught Aimée by the hand and gently tugged on it before he said, “Aims hold up a second. There’s something you need to know before you bust her door down.”

“She IS his mate,” she quietly exclaimed as she tried to shake Dev off. When his grip remained ironclad, she glared at him adding, “Devereaux Aubert Peltier, let go of me this instant!”

“I will,” he quickly replied. “But first. Try to remember that she is a fairly delicate human, so please try to take it easy on her, sis. I’m sure this is a lot for her to process right now.”

That reply earned him a full-on death glare from his sister as she wrenched her hand out of his hold retorting, “I know she is! And I understand how confusing this must be for my Cub, so you go. Go do whatever it was that you were rushing to do when I ran into you. I’ll take care of Parker.”

Dev held his hands up in surrender then said, “Okay, sis, okay. You take good care of our Cub while I…”

He let his response trail off without completing his thought because Aimée just continued down the hall without paying his words any mind.

At Parker’s bedroom door, Aimée stopped for half a second while she contemplated knocking. In the back of her mind she was still worried that Parker wouldn’t be in the room when she opened the door, so she didn’t actually pause and just barged into the room. Once she was through the door Aimée gasped in a surprised breath and froze in her place.

THORN PACED AROUND THE small cabin and he felt his anger swell with every step. Why wasn’t his brother back yet? What the hell was so important that he hadn’t returned yet? Why hadn’t he answered any of Thorn’s calls?

Feeling utterly frustrated and disgusted, Thorn was just about to teleport home when he heard the door to the cabin start to open. He then took a couple of steps towards the bed and sat down while he waited for his brother to enter.

Once the door was partially opened, Spike called out, “Primrose, I hope ye haven’t started dinner because…”

He froze in his place and stared at his brother who was seated where he had last left Parker sleeping. Without thinking, Spike slammed the door and move towards his brother while demanding in a threatening tone, “What have ye done with me Primrose?”

Thorn threw his hand up to freeze his brother in his place. He then stood up and slowly walked towards Spike saying in a forced calm voice, “I did nothing. She isn’t your and she isn’t this Primrose person you think she is. She belongs to a bear. She’s his mate. You HAVE to let her go and forget about her Little Brother.”

“NAY! Ye be lying to me,” Spike snarled as he tried to move from his frozen state. “What did ye do with her?”

Thorn let out a heavy sigh then snapped his fingers as he replied, “I simply took her back where she belongs.”

Spike spun in his place in the dark room Thorn had brought him. He was about to ask where they were when he heard Thorn snap again and the room was bathed in a soft light. He recognized it as his brother’s office in his Nether Realm, but he still didn’t know why he had been brought here.

Knowing that Thorn’s powers were greater than his, especially when in his own realm, Spike stayed where he was standing and asked as politely as he could, “And _bráthair,_ why did you bring me here?”

Thorn sat down in the chair behind his desk as he motioned to a chair on the other side of the desk for Spike to sit in. He waited until his younger brother started moving to reply, “I had to call in a lot of favors for this, so please do pay attention.”

Spike frowned, but before he could voice his question the room went completely black again. To his right, Thorn’s left, a six foot by two foot mirror started to glow. Spike could see that Thorn was lounging in his throne like chair and motioned for Spike to just watch the mirror and not to look at him right now.

At first it looked like the mirror was filled with mist. Slowly that mist dissipated and a scene in a meadow appeared. Spike looked a question at Thorn, but his brother just ignored him. Instead he once again motioned for Spike to watch the mirror.

Spike still wasn’t sure why Thorn was so intent on him watching his stupid mirror, but he stilled turned his attention back to it. Much to his surprise, there was now a young maiden sitting in the meadow. She wasn’t clearly defined, but he could tell that she was sitting and weaving meadow flowers into a crown. Even though her face still wasn’t completely in focus, Spike knew exactly who she was and he reverently gasped out, “Primrose.”

As her face came into focus, both Thorn and Spike could hear her humming a song. Thorn neither knew, nor cared about the little ditty, but Spike recognized it right away. He started humming along with her while he watched her agile fingers weave the stems of the flowers together in a raptured awe. As the daughter of a sheep farmer, she was used to working with her hands and he was always amazed at how delicate she always appeared. He always assumed that menial labor like farm work would harden a person both physically and emotionally, but that was never true for his Primrose. She as always kind to anyone that crossed her path, especially animals and her body always looked soft and supple, completely feminine. In fact, it was his memories of watching Primrose on the farm that helped him to finally decide to start his own farm out at his cabin.

Spike took a couple of steps towards the mirror to touch Primrose’s face when another person entered the scene. But not just any person, it was a man who looked like he was rushing to her side. He called out something to her that Spike couldn’t hear because suddenly there was no sound coming from the mirror, just the pictures.

Without taking his eyes off the scene in front of him, Spike growled out, “Who be touching me Primrose?”

“Little Brother,” Thorn replied with an aggravated sigh. “Again I say, she isn’t YOURS.” He walked over to Spike’s side and wrapped an arm around his shoulders as he added, “That, Little Brother, is her soulmate. After they both died they were reunited in the Elysian Fields. She belongs with him. They are happily spending eternity at rest there together.”

Spike stepped out of his brother’s embrace and gave him a quizzical look asking, “Elysian Fields?”

“They worshipped the gods from Olympus, that is their version of Heaven,” Thorn answered in a very detached voice.

Spike shook his head and then said to himself, “No… no… Parker, her soul shined just… just like me…”

“Parker is her daughter,” Thorn interrupted with the same detached tone of voice. “What you think you recognized is just the residuals all human children inherit from their parents. The woman you see in the mirror is the one you called ‘Primrose’, not Parker so you have to forget about her. You have to let her go.”

Thorn spared a look at his brother. The slight sheen of tears gathering in the other man’s eyes told him that his obsession was far from over. His little brother wasn’t going to just let this drop. He could tell that this might actually and quite literally be the death of him if Thorn didn’t do something to put an end to this insanity.

“Dee-ah…” Thorn started until Spike turned to stare at him with eyes that were filled with an orange and red fire.

“I will not let ye control me,” Spike interrupted in a deep, demonic voice. “And I will leave the human alone to keep you from feeling justified in taking me body and mind over.”

With that Spike used all of his powers to take him back to his cabin. Thorn let out another sigh and whispered, “I hope you will Little Brother, I really do.”

ONCE AIMÉE WAS THROUGH Parker’s bedroom door, she gasped in a surprised breath and froze in her place. Parker stared at her through the reflection of her vanity’s mirror. Her hand was frozen, mid-air between her eye and the mascara bottle that the wand she was holding had just been pulled out of.

“Cub…” Aimée nearly sobbed out as she rushed towards the human.

Parker quickly turned and held her hands out saying, “No, Aimée you have to stay there.”

Aimée stopped and frowned quietly asking, “Parker?”

“No, you can’t come over here,” she replied, seemingly ignoring the hurt in the bearswan’s tone. “No, if you come over here then I’ll start to cry and I just got my eye makeup exactly how I want it.”

Aimée glared at Parker, but it lacked the necessary heat to be truly scary. “Yeah, well too bad,” the bear finally replied as she moved towards Parker again. “I guess we’ll just have to fix you up again.”

Despite what she had said, Parker met Aimée half way so that they could embrace. Even though they were roughly the same height, it took Aimée no effort at all to pick Parker off the ground while they embraced.

After she put the human back down, Aimée held her cheeks in both of her hands and once again nearly sobbed out, “Cub… Parker… you really are actually here?”

Afraid that her voice would crack and her tears would start to spill down her cheeks, Parker just nodded in response.

“And who took you? Where did they take you? Did they hurt you? Do anything weird to you? How did you get back? Who…?” Aimée stopped there and then scooped up Parker’s right hand saying, “Forget all of that for now. This is the most important…”

She held up Parker’s hand so that she could see her palm. Without meaning to, the bear held her breath until Parker’s mating mark came into view. She already knew instinctively that Parker was Remi’s mate, but that fact didn’t become completely true until this very moment.

“Sweetie, your… it’s beautiful,” Aimée nearly whispered.

Parker shook her head and then showed Aimée her own marked palm replying, “No, this is beautiful. Mine is so… so… Remi. I mean seriously, how did he manage to make our mating mark look angry? That is some serious talent.”

“Parker,” Aimée tried to admonish her, but it came out with a sputtering chuckle.

Parker walked back to her vanity replying, “I know, but I was serious when I said that I didn’t want to cry yet.”

Aimée watched as Parker finished applying her makeup for a couple of seconds before saying, “I know Cub and I understand.” She walked up behind Parker and picked up a brush to start brushing her hair. “While Dev is out tracking Remi down, why don’t I help you finish getting ready?”

Parker looked into Aimée’s eyes through the reflection of the mirror as she answered, “Thanks, I’d really like that.”

“Wow,” Aimée gasped out once their gazes met. “Your eyes look amazing.”

“Thanks,” Parker said with a visible blush. “A friend of mine back in England taught me a few tricks.”

“And they’re working great. I never knew that your eyes could look any bluer.” Aimée looked down and noted that Parker was wearing a familiar dark blue silk robe. “So, do you know what outfit you want to wear to go with this fabulous makeup?”

Parker shrugged answering, “I’ve been trying to decide, but I’m really not sure.”

Aimée continued to brush Parker’s hair until her eyes went wide as a thought struck her. She passed the brush back to Parker so that she could rush over to the closet. While she took over the task of taming her mane, Parker turned in her seat so that she could watch Aimée.

It didn’t take the bearswan long to find exactly what she was seeking. She pulled out a deep, royal purple satin knee length halter dress and turned to show it to Parker. The human’s eyes widened when she saw the dress because she would have to go braless in order for the dress to look its best.

Aimée caught the look on Parker’s face and she couldn’t help but to laugh. “Don’t give me that look Cub. We all know what you want to do with Remi when you find him.” Parker’s mouth actually gaped open as a dark blush spread across her cheeks. Aimée laughed again then said, “Cub, don’t be embarrassed. Everyone knows what needs to be done to be mated. Just like you all know what Fang and I had fun doing in order for me to get pregnant.”

“Oh gods Aimée! Please… please stop!” Parker sputtered out as she turned her back on her friend.

“Sweetie, really it’s nothing to be embarrassed about,” Aimée replied as she took over brushing Parker’s hair again. “But I’ll stop because I don’t want to make you any more nervous than I’m sure that you already are.”

“Thanks Aims. It isn’t that talking about sex and stuff it’s just… well… he’s your brother, so that makes this all kind of weird.”

“Oh Sweetie, that’s no big deal. I’ve heard my brothers brag about their exploits most of my life…”

“AIMÉE!” Parker cried out in a shocked whine. “I know they do that but you’re talking about me and sex… and your brother!”

The bearswan gave her a chiding smile then said, “You should have heard what my _maman_ used to say to me when we had visiting bear clans here. But I will respect your wishes and change the subject. I think I know exactly how you should wear your hair.”

“Really? I sort of thought that wearing it down would be fine.”

“Nope, that won’t do,” Aimée replied. She manifested a silver hair pin and started bundling Parker’s hair up to the top of her head. “This way he’ll get to fully appreciate your dress. And then you can always do the pull the pin out of your hair and shake it out all sexy like too.”

Parker let out a loud groan but stopped herself from covering her face with her hands like she wanted to as she said, “Are you really giving me pointers on how to seduce your brother?”

“No, I’m giving you pointers on how to entice your mate.” She finished pinning up Parker’s hair and then placed her chin on her shoulder so that they could look at each other more easily in the mirror. “You are beautiful Cub. Now how much do you know about the mating ritual?”

“Umm… well we get the mark on our hands and then umm… he claims me as his mate?”

“Not exactly,” Aimée answered as she walked over to Parker’s bed to sit down. “Now that your brands have appeared, the ball is totally in your court. It’s up to the female to claim or reject the mate.”

“Really?”

“Really Cub. If he tried to force it on you then the ritual can’t be completed and he’s forced into celibacy for the rest of your life.”

“Wow! That is so cool!” Parker didn’t try to hide her giddiness at all. She then stood up and stepped behind a large wooden screen that had a map of Ancient Greece carved into it that she received as a graduation gift from her dad so that she could get changed and think a little bit. “So, I decide that I want to claim my mate… what happens next?”

“Well to complete the ritual the female literally does ‘claim’ her mate. They clasp their branded hands and she says the magic words: ‘I accept you as you are, and I will always hold you close in my heart. I will walk beside you forever.’ And then you are officially mated.”

Parker stepped out from behind the screen as she finished tying the dress behind her neck to ask, “When you say ‘claim’ like that, you mean… uhh… you mean sex, right?”

“Yes Cub, I do mean sex.”

“So, if I’m in charge that means…”

Parker’s confused frown almost made Aimée laugh, but she held it in out of respect to Parker. She had just returned from being held captive by something that none of them knew anything about and now one of her best friend’s was coaching her about how she was supposed to have sex with her mate. Add in the bonus that Parker’s mate was her best friend’s brother who was the spitting image of another best friend (also Aimée’s brother) and you got a perfect recipe for instant awkwardness.

“Parker… Cub… it means that you have to accept him into your body, all on your own, and then you set the pace from there. Understand?”

Parker nodded replying, “Yeah, I think I do. I mean the easy access dress definitely makes a lot more sense now.”

Aimée finally gave into her desire to laugh then. “Plus you look smoking hot in it.”

“Yeah, that helps too,” Parker retorted cheekily as she sat down beside Aimée on her bed. “Okay, so what am I supposed to say again?”

 

They stayed in Parker’s room working on helping Parker to memorize the mating spell. Neither of them noticed how much time had passed and would have continued on but then they were interrupted by a knock at the door.

Aimée got up to answer it saying to Parker, “You put on the finishing touches and I’ll get that. Just don’t add any jewelry. It’ll just get broken or lost.”

“Oh gods! Tell me you didn’t just say that.”

“I did and you know that I’m right.”

Aimée disappeared into the hallway. There she found Dev, Samia, Fang, Cherif, Quinn and Cody. She looked over the group again to make sure that she hadn’t missed the one face she expected to see and made sure that he actually wasn’t there.

“Where’s Remi?” She finally asked in a quiet, unsure voice.

Fang moved over to her side to wrap her in a hug while Dev answered, “We’ve looked everywhere that we can think of and we still haven’t been able to find him.”

“But Parker’s back. They can complete the ritual now,” Aimée said sounding as if she was having to convince everyone of that truth.

“We know Aims,” Fang replied. “That’s why we have everyone we can spare checking for him still.”

She rested her head against Fang’s chest and let out a soft sigh. “I know, I know. I just hadn’t planned on that being an issue once we finally got her home.”

“We’ll find him,” Dev said trying to sound more encouraging than he felt.

“Okay, so where have you guys looked?”

Quinn was the first to start listing off places. Everyone else would add in the places they had checked as well. Aimée just listened and tried not to panic.

“Did anyone check Talon’s cabin?”

Everyone turned to look at Parker where she stood in her doorway. They all stared at her for a couple of seconds and then looked at each other sheepishly.

Parker then stepped into the hallway to officially join the conversation and added, “It’s where I would go to, y’know… collect my thoughts if roles were reversed.”

“That makes sense,” Dev replied with a smile.

Parker gave him a half smile then meekly asked, “Can any of you take me there?”

Again they all just shared an uncertain look. No one wanted to look her in the eye which prompted her to ask, “Do any of you know anyone that could take me there?”

“There’s Carson,” Cherif offered.

Aimée shook her head replying, “He’s with Bride’s dad helping with a hawk that was brought into the doctor’s office earlier today.”

“None of you guys have ever been to Talon’s cabin, have you?” Parker asked sounding like she was on the verge of bursting into tears at any second.

Aimée removed herself from Fang’s embrace to rush to Parker’s side to try to comfort her. “Sorry Sweetie, but most of us don’t make it a habit to hang out at Dark-Hunter’s homes.”

Parker started to hyperventilate, but she managed to sound calm when she finally asked, “Does someone have a car that I can borrow?”

Fang snapped his fingers then said, “I think I can do you one better. Wait here.”

Parker shared a look with Aimée, but neither of them said anything. There were a few murmured words of encouragement. Even though she just wanted to scream out in frustration, Parker forced herself to calm down by pacing a bit in the hallway.

“You do look really pretty,” Cody said to Parker just under his breath when she stepped closer to him.

She gave him a small smile then quietly replied, “Thanks Cody, but I’m already spoken for.”

Cody blushed fiercely then mumbled, “I didn’t… I was just…”

Parker reached over and squeezed the bear’s arm then said, “It’s a joke Cody. Jeez, I thought by now that you’d get my humor.”

Cody chuckled uncomfortably then said, “Right… joke… Good one Parker.”

She felt a little bit guilty for teasing Cody like that, but he just made it too easy. Parker had started to help him every once in a while to set up equipment for Howlers’ shows. At first he was resistant to letting the new comer touch the merchandise (so to speak), but after she had single-handedly set up a pair of speakers flawlessly under five minutes he completely changed his tune. Since then she became one of his favorite assistants. Well that was whenever she felt like helping because he liked to work in silence which could be hard for her to do. They had gotten to know each other a bit better none the less and she felt like he was a little brother to her now. Or was that a big brother? Him looking around her age but being centuries older still sort of messed with her head.

The thought of him being a brother made her laugh because with Remi being her mate, Cody now was actually like a brother to her, sort of.

Parker opened her mouth to tease him again, but she was silence by Fang appearing beside Aimée. He looked rather grim as he moved to hug his mate. When Parker saw the look on his face, she felt like someone had punched her in the gut and she very nearly did start to cry.

Fang turned to speak to Parker when another male popped into the hallway. The anger that filled his green eyes was so palpable that Parker actually took a step back and hit her closed bedroom door.

“I thought you were busy,” Fang spat out snidely at the new comer.

“I was! I have five little ones running around at home, they don’t just take care of themselves, you know.” He then stepped forward and punched Fang in the arm hard enough that Fang nearly stumbled backwards. “Thanks a lot for snitching to my mate, Asshole.”

Aimée stepped between the two wolves before Fang could reply and politely asked, “Vane? Do you need one of us to go and look after the kids?”

“No,” he replied as his face immediately softened and he sounded eerily calm. “Bride called Fury, so he and Lia are watching them. That’s why I didn’t get here at the same time as my idiot brother over there.” He then turned to Parker and raised an impressed eyebrow when he took in her outfit as he stated, “I take it that you’re the Squire that needs help getting to a secluded shack in the swamp.”

“It’s not a shack, it’s a cabin. And it isn’t a ‘swamp’, it’s the Bayou,” Parker retorted automatically with some heat in her tone.

Vane held up his hands in mock surrender as he replied, “Sorry… sorry. I didn’t recognize you in that dress, Talon.”

Parker sneered at him before she looked over at Fang and asked, “Is your whole family this charming?”

Fang laughed and hugged Aimée to him so that her back was flush against his chest. He kissed the side of her head and then whispered to her, “I like her, can we keep her?”

Vane smirked at Parker saying, “Hey, look if you don’t want my help then I can just go home to my kids before our brother warps their minds any more than he already has, okay?”

Parker crossed her arms over her chest and hardened her expression before replying, “Yes, I would appreciate your help, but if you’re going to continue to be so insulting, I’ll be more than happy to find another way to get out there.”

“Insulting?” Vane said sounding very confused. “Hey, look…”

Parker held up her right hand and showed him one finger (no not the one she wanted to, it was her index finger) saying, “One, you called one of my favorite places on the planet a shack in a swamp. Two…” She held up a second finger. “You said that I look like a man in a dress when Aimée and I worked really hard on trying to get me to look my best. Did you want to try and go for strike three?”

“I… I didn’t…”

Parker threw her hands up in exasperation and then stepped towards Cody, who looked like he was trying his best not to make it look too obvious that he was retreating from everyone in the hallway. As she stepped towards him, she softened her tone to practically plead, “Cody, can I please borrow your car?”

Vane stared at his brother, move his stunned gaze to Parker and then back to his brother as he stuttered out, “Wh-what are you doing?”

Pointedly refusing to look over at him, Parker replied, “I’m trying to get to my mate. No one here seems to be able to teleport me there, so I’m trying to do what I’ve been trained my whole life to be… resourceful.”

Vane stared at Fang and Aimée in wide-eyed disbelief asking, “Is she for real?”

They both shrugged but it was Aimée that answered, “She’s spirited. And we love her for it.”

Cody was mumbling about his car being in the shop and how he was catching a ride from a classmate to school causing Parker to let out a frustrated breath. She turned and started towards her room saying to herself, “Maybe Talon’s home. He should know the fastest way to get out there.”

As she passed Vane he grabbed her arm and she had enough time to say, “Hey!” before he flashed them out of Peltier House.

“Where…? How…?” Parker stopped and held her hand up into Vane’s face and said, “Forget that, I know those answers. What I don’t understand is why you actually brought be here. I thought you were more than happy to leave me to go take care of your kids.”

“Hi Parker, I’m Vane, Fang’s brother,” he replied as he held out his hand to shake hers. “It’s nice to meet you.”

Parker crossed her arms over her chest and scowled at him saying, “Yeah, pretty sure…”

“Look,” he interrupted while holding his hands up in surrender. “I think we got off on the wrong foot and I take full responsibility for that.” Vane forced himself not to laugh at the shocked look that comment put on her face. “How long have you had your mating mark on your hand?”

Parker’s scowl deepened. She almost didn’t answer him, but her curiosity got the best of her. “Technically two weeks, but it was hidden by magic so physically… like around twenty-four hours. Why?”

“Shit,” he cursed softly. “And I’m guessing before it appeared you really didn’t know much about all of this stuff, right?”

Parker’s scowl remained fixed as she shrugged and replied, “You guys are cousins to Daimons so we learned about your history at school, plus Aimée told me a lot about her experience with Fang. But no, I probably didn’t and haven’t learned everything that I need to know.”

“That’s what I thought,” he said with an apologetic look on his face. “I shouldn’t have teased you like I did. I’m the Regis Lykos and have basically been a leading in my clan for… well almost my entire life, so I can know how your hormones are…” He paused there because he saw her anger flare in her eyes and wanted to extinguish it right away. “No… not like… not just because… It’s… you’re human, so male or female, it can be overwhelming when you’re first mated. So, I brought you here as my way of apologizing for being such an insensitive dick to you.”

Parker’s face softened slightly as she reached out and picked up Vane’s hand to shake it. “I guess I can see what Bride sees in you now.”

“You…? You’ve met my… I mean you’ve met Bride? And you were wondering what she sees in me?”

“Yeah, I ended up at her store and she is such a kind, caring soul who makes everyone that steps foot inside her store feel welcome so effortlessly. It isn’t hard to see why anyone would fall in love with her. But you? Well like you said, we probably got off on the wrong foot because before now it really was hard to understand.”

Vane barked out a laugh and squeezed Parker’s hand that he was still holding. “I can see why Fang and Fury like you so much. Yes, they both vouched for you and helped to convince me to help you tonight. You really aren’t like a lot of humans I’ve met.”

Parker shrugged then held up her marked palm to show him it while she said, “I’m a human who has been mated by the Fates on Mount Olympus to Remi Peltier and you’ve just realized that I’m ‘special’ now?”

Fang barked out another laugh then shook his head. “Good point. Good point. Whenever you finally make it back to Sanctuary, get Fang to give me a call so that we can have a beer and meet properly.”

Parker smirked then said without a hint of humor in her tone, “Third times a charm, eh?”

It took Vane a second before her joke registered because of her dry tone. She then smiled more demurely and then asked, “Would you maybe have some words of advice?”

Vane held one of her hands in both of his and he made very direct eye contact as he answered, “All you need to do is to follow your heart. You were able to find a way through to him before, so you know how to get through to him again.”

“Wow,” Parker gasped out. “That was way more touchy feely than I expected from a wolf.” She quickly lunged forward to give him a hug as she quietly said, “Sorry. I joke when… and I don’t want to cry… so it’s easier if…”

“It’s alright Parker, I understand,” Vane replied as he softly rubbed circles on her back.

Parker pushed back on his chest and very sincerely said, “Thank you Vane. I literally couldn’t and wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for you.”

Vane shrugged then replied, “I don’t know about that. If any human could have found a way out here without our help, I’m sure that it’s you. Good luck.”

With that said Vane flashed himself back home leaving Parker alone on the door step of Talon’s cabin. Suddenly she started to feel the butterflies in her stomach as they started to flutter with a vengeance. She took in a couple of slow, deep breaths while she turned her back to the door so that she could stare into the Bayou.

“Fuck,” she whispered to herself while she fought off the queasy feeling that was trying to overtake her.

 _Fuck! What am I doing here?_ She thought to herself. _He probably doesn’t even want to see me… or speak to me. Damn it!_

She moved her hands up to her face to rub her face, which would have ruined her makeup that she had tried so hard to keep in place. Just as her right palm came into view, both of her hands froze in their place. She stared at her mating mark for a couple of seconds and then it hit her. The last time that she saw Remi (because she finally realized that he actually had met her in her dreams) she was absolutely convinced that she wasn’t his mate, so she had sort of blown him off each time. But now she knew she had been wrong. That would give her a good starting point for how to start a dialogue with him, or at least she hoped that it would.

Parker took in another deep breath and straightened herself out thinking, _apologize, mating ritual and then talk it out. You can do this Parker._ She wiped her hands down the front of her body to make sure that her dress was straight when another thought hit her. _And if nothing else works, you can always remind him that without mating with you he’ll never have sex again._

That thought made Parker chuckle quietly. She then opened the door with that smile still plastered on her face. It had to be better to go in with a smile than to be crying like he had seen her doing every time he had visited her in her dreams.

Remi jump up to his feet when he heard the door open because he wasn’t expecting any visitors, so he assumed it was some kind of squatter. If it was a free-loader who was looking to defile this cabin with their filth, then Remi was more than happy to set them straight. If they required some ‘persuasion’ to understand his point of view, Remi would be more than happy to help them with that too. And if he had to use his fists to get his point across? Well, after the last couple of nights he had been itching for a fight.

Parker heard movement inside and she held her breath because it finally dawned on her that the person inside might not be Remi. Her parents had told her stories about going to one of their summer or winter cabins before she was born and finding that someone had broken into it over the winter. The polite ones left a note apologizing for breaking in and/or thanked them for the shelter to help save their lives. The not so polite ones… well she was just happy that she hadn’t been around for that clean up because just hearing the descriptions of what they had done had made her want to vomit.

 _NO!_ She said to herself as she finally started to walk through the door. _Vane’s a wolf. He would have said something if he smelled someone who doesn’t belong here._ She smirked and then thought, _smelled! And I used to think my life was strange when I only hung out with the bears and their friends and now…_

“Parker? Is…? Is that really you?” Remi’s voice quietly called out to bring her out of her thoughts.

Parker carefully closed the door to take a moment to help her to compose herself. When she turned around she saw his eyes widen slightly. Who would have thought that after all of the times that he had seen her naked that seeing her in a sexy dress could still affect him so much?

“You’re back? When did…? How did…?” Remi stopped there and hardened his facial expression before he returned to his spot on the bed. He made sure to sit on something that Parker was sure that she had seen him holding. He deliberately cleared his throat before saying in a tone that was carefully devoid of any emotion, “You’re back. I guess that’s good to see… Aimée and Dev were worried about you.”

“Thanks,” Parker replied feeling totally awkward. “And… Umm… I haven’t really been back that long.”

“Just long enough to get all dolled up for your big date, huh?”

“Date?” Parker asked without being able to stop herself. She scowled and opened her mouth to say something else, but she stopped herself.

Remi was pointedly refusing to look at her. She sighed inwardly because this man in front of her looked more like the old Remi. The one who had been perpetually had been pissed off at the world and everyone in it for no reason other than the fact that they deigned to exist happily around him.

This was the Remi that she had been working so hard to show love and kindness so that he wouldn’t give into his random impulses to beat people into a pulp. This was the Remi who had refused to listen to her when she tried to apologize for the ‘Otto incident’. This was the Remi that she really wanted to punch in the face most of the time, especially when he spoke. This was the Remi with whom she had had to get really creative in order to get him to even stop to listen to her.

 _Vane said you could do this and… okay he doesn’t know you, but he knows Were-Hunters… Fine then, I guess I’ll have to be creative again,_ she thought to herself with a smirk.

After she silently stepped out of her silver ballerina flats, Parker raised her hands to the back of her neck and deftly untied the know on her dress. It pooled around her ankles with a soft thud. Remi must have heard it because he stated to lift his head up, but he stopped himself to continue to stare at his hand that were folded in his lap.

Parker let out an inaudible sigh and then stepped out of her dress. Her footsteps barely made a sound as she crossed the floor towards him barefoot. She paused a couple of feet away from him, slipped off her panties and then closed the distance between them. Once she knew that her toes were in his sight line, she dropped her black lace panties at his feet.

Remi’s head finally shot up to look at her at the sight of the racy lingerie. Parker bit her lip to keep from laughing at how his eyes bugged out at seeing her naked. She took advantage of his shocked state to gently unlace his fingers and move his hand to his sides. She then sat down on his lap and wrapped her legs around his waist.

He still hadn’t moved anything but his eyes, so she had no problem picking up his left hand and lacing the fingers of her right hand with his left. Once their palms were pressed together, she looked him in the eyes and said, “I accept you as you are, and I will always love you with all of my heart. I will walk beside you until the end of time.”

She lifted their hands up to her lips to kiss their entwined fingers as he quietly said, “What did you say?”

“It’s… it’s the…” She stopped and then got a chagrinned look on her face. “I said it wrong, didn’t I? Shit! I told Aimée that she should have written it down for me. I’m so sorry that I fucked it up.”

Remi looped his free hand around her waist so that he could run his fingers gently un and down her spine. “It’s okay, but say it again.”

Parker scowled softly then replied, “but I said it all wrong.”

“Fine. Just say the middle part again.”

Parker let go of his hand so that she could settle back closer to his knees and look up at his face more comfortably. She still looked confused when she said, “I love you with all my heart?”

Since she made it sound like a question, Remi asked, “Are you sure? Because…”

Finally giving into her urges to do so, Parker leaned up slightly to kiss him into silence. “Yes. I’m very sure. The last time I saw you… uhh… in the Dream Realm, not in real life… I was confused… hurting…”

“Really? Because you sounded pretty sure to me when you said you didn’t love me.”

Parker huffed out a breath and crossed her arms over her breasts. Remi quickly wrapped his now free left hand around her waist to make sure that she didn’t fall off of his lap. She also tightened her hold around his waist with her legs when she noticed the precarious situation she had put herself in.

Her lips were pouting when she replied, “Then you need to work on your listening skills because I NEVER said I didn’t love you…” He opened his mouth to interrupt her, but she used her left hand to cover it. “I didn’t! I said that I couldn’t LET myself love you anymore. When my palm didn’t get marked, I thought that you had cheated on me… BUT I know that’s not true. Not only did Aimée tell me that she had talked to you about it to… well anyways…” She tightened her hold on his mouth slightly because she was afraid that if he interrupted her that she wouldn’t get everything out. Very slowly she held up her right hand up at shoulder height to show him her palm. “But then this appeared after Thorn took me away from Spike’s cabin. It hurt like hell so I think he knocked me out or something, but either way when I woke up all I could think about was finding you. I love you Remi Peltier. I… I… I still believe… despite our differences… that what we have’s enough. I believe in you. I believe in love… our love.”

Remi’s eyes went wide and his mouth was gaping open when Parker removed her hand from his face. Thinking that she had once again messed up the lines that she had been rehearsing, albeit these ones were for nearly a month not just a few hours, Parker started to blush. Remi could see her skin turning pink in her cheeks and it steadily started to spread down her neck and across her chest above both of her breasts, but he couldn’t help it and had to tease her, even just a little bit.

“Did…? Did you just recite the lyrics of an Indigo Girls’ song?” He asked sounding like he was completely in awe of that fact.

Parker shied away from him a bit and covered her chest with her arms by crossing them over her torso and grasping her shoulders with her hands as she replied, “I was try to… at the very least. Did I mess that up too?”

Remi shook his head and reached up to pull the pin out of her hair so that it could fall around her body. He knew that she normally used it as a security blanket, so he wanted to let her have it free in case that she felt like she needed to use it. An extra bonus was that he also loved the way she looked with her midnight black hair falling nearly to her waist to frame her luscious body.

He then grasped both of her wrists and gently pulled them away from her shoulders as he replied, “No, you didn’t mess them up.” He started tracing her mating mark with his index finger and kept his eyes laser focused on it while he continued to speak. “So? Does this mean that you want to be my mate?”

Parker lifted his chin with her bent, left index finger so that she could reestablish eye contact with him before she answered, “Remi? I’m straddling your lap… completely naked, reciting lyrics to a band that I only listen to because of you… so no, I don’t actually want to mate with you. I just thought this would be a fun thing to do tonight… the first night I’m back from being abducted.”

“You joke, but some female mates have been known to do just that exact same thing.”

“Well… I’m not just anyone’s mate. I’m YOUR mate,” Parker retorted in a husky voice as she moved her face closer to his. “And despite that icy cold reception I received after busting my ass to get out here to you… Yes… Yes, I do want to be you mate. But… I think I’m going to need some help with the ritual in order to make that happen.”

Remi gave her a devilish smile and then used magic to make his clothes disappear. Parker gasped softly because no matter how many times she witnessed him using magic it still amazed her that he had such a talent and that he could use it so effortlessly. She also couldn’t believe that someone as powerful and gorgeous as him would be interested in her, let alone wanting to mate with her.

He shifted his grip on her right hand so that their palms were pressed together replying, “Just tell what you need to know.”

Parker smiled and then started to lift herself up so that she could impale herself onto his length, but she stopped while she was in mid-air to ask, “Does it mess up the ritual if you tell me each line before I say it? Should we go over the spell before I… ahem… mount you?”

Remi barked out a laugh and used his free hand to pull her head forward to kiss her. “ _Non, mon ourson,_ it doesn’t have any effect on the ritual at all.”

“Good,” she replied against his lips as she lowered herself onto him. “Because I am yours. Forever and for always.”

“Good thing too because after this that’s how long we’ll be stuck with each other,” Remi teased as he forced himself not to thrust up into Parker’s inviting body. He took in a couple of deep breaths with his eyes closed to try to keep himself in check. Once he felt like he had calmed down enough to continue, he opened his eyes and quietly said, “Okay… Repeat after me. I accept you as you are…”

Parker maintained steady eye contact as she started to move her hips in a circular motion, “I accept you as you are…”

“And I will always hold you close in my heart.”

Parker’s cheeks rogued from embarrassment at hearing that line because now she could hear how badly she had screwed it up. “And I will always HOLD YOU CLOSE IN MY heart.” She made sure to put an emphasis on the words that she had recited incorrectly.

That earned her a smile from Remi, but he still sounded slightly distressed when he said, “I will walk beside you forever.”

“I will walk beside you FOREVER.”

Parker then completed the ritual by engulfing Remi’s lips with her own. He finally allowed himself to relax into her embrace no that he believed that he spell had been completed. Even though he didn’t have to worry about interrupting the ritual by participating, physically that is, Remi still let Parker be in complete control of their union.

She would have been content to continue to kiss him, but she pulled back with a surprised gasp when she felt him bite her lip. At first she was going to tease him about being such an ‘animal, but she stopped herself when she felt her own canine teeth start to elongate. She had no idea what was happening, but Remi didn’t seem to be bothered by it at all because he still had his eyes closed and looked like he was relishing the sensations of their bodies being joined so intimately.

When he felt Parker pull out of their embrace with a sudden jerk, Remi very reluctantly opened his eyes. He couldn’t really decipher the look on her face, so he tried to give her a seductive smile to help to ease her mind. The ritual had been completed, or at least from what he had heard about from other people’s experiences it was, and she had been returned to him, so there was nothing left for them to worry about… or so he thought.

Instead of calming Parker down, Remi’s smile seemed to distress her further. She placed her flattened palms against his chest to start to shove at him as if she wanted to get as far away as possible from him. When he realized what she was doing, Remi caught her arms and tried to hug her against his chest.

“I don’t think that the ritual is actually finished until we both climax,” he explained quietly to try to calm her.

Parker continued to struggle against him replying, “But Remi, you… I… WE have fangs! Am I…? Am I turning into a bear?”

“Shh…” He hushed her while he continued to gently press her against him. “Sorry. I guess we forgot to mention the _thirio_.”

“The what?” She questioned sounding even more panicked.

Remi made sure to keep his voice as calm as possible even though he was ready to throttle his sister for not warning Parker about this part of their mating. “It’s call the _thirio_ … but don’t worry… it will pass soon enough.”

Parker felt like she was going to go crazy because all she wanted to do was to bite down on his neck or attack him somehow. She forced herself to keep her face away his because she was worried that if she got too close to his neck or any other part of his flesh that she might actually attack him.

With that thought in mind, Parker decided to try to shift her focus onto helping the two of them reach their climax instead. Maybe the endorphins or whatever else was released in their bodies would help her to keep from giving into her urges to take a bite out of him. Which was becoming so hard for her to do that she had to squeeze her eyes closed so that she could at least make an attempt to focus on other things.

“W-Why…?” Parker stuttered out with her eyes still closed tightly. “W-why…? Wh-what’s…? Why…?”

Remi wanted to laugh at Parker’s familiar disjointed questions, but he couldn’t because he too was trying his best to resist the urge to take a bite out of her. He was so conflicted because he was sure that the insatiable need would subside if he sunk his newly found fangs into her, but in the next breath he didn’t want to do anything that might hurt her, especially physically. Even before he knew that she was his mate, Parker induced a protective streak in him. Actually, Parker had been so sweet in her youth and beyond that she had caused almost everyone she met to want to protect her in some way, so Remi knew that if he had actually harm her that he’d have more than just his brother and sister to answer to for it, so he tried his best to avoid it all together.

Instead Remi replied through clenched teeth, “It’s… the… the _thirio_ happens so… so that… two mates… mates can… can bond.”

Parker gasped as Remi’s member hit a sensitive spot inside of her which caused her to breathlessly ask, “D-does that…? I-is that…?”

They kept moving in such an exquisite dance like motion that Remi didn’t fault her for not being completely coherent right at that moment. But he also knew that she deserved an answer, so he forced himself not to focus on how perfect her canal felt as he slid against it so that he could reply, “It means… oh shit… slow down… mmm… yeah… just like that Parker…” He let himself settle down a bit after her vigorous onslaught before he looked her in the eyes to say, “It means that we would bond our life forces together.”

 


	14. Chapter 13

After leaving Thorn's realm, Spike returned to his cabin. He had thought about returning to his own, home, realm, but he didn't really want to have to deal with anyone else from his family or pantheon, so his cabin away from all of them seemed like the best place to go.

When he first got back there, he tried to distract himself from his memories and thoughts of Parker by chopping some wood. In the end that just caused him to think about her even more because of the funny incidents that had happened out there with the human. Even though he had continuously told Parker that she didn't have to bother with doing any of the hard, manual labor, he would still find her outside trying to help. The first couple of times he found her outside, he assumed he had caught her in the act of trying to sneak away. It didn't take long for him to realize that she was sincere in her pleas of just wanting to be of assistance and to make herself useful, so he had actually started to let her do a few odd jobs with him.

He lifted up his ax so that the memory playing through his mind's eye would be more vivid. He had found Parker outside quietly cursing at a piece of wood that she was trying to chop. She was sure that it was under some sort of enchantment because practically every time she raised the axe over her head, the piece of wood would tumble to one side or the other. He had startled her with his boisterous chuckling and had the most beautiful pout when she nearly whined that it wasn't nice to laugh at her pain like that.

The look on her face still made him smile, only this time it was with a hint of sadness. She wasn't going to come back here and she would never make him laugh like that again. Those were sobering thoughts that still didn't feel like they were the truth just yet.

Spike hastily dropped the axe in the hopes that that would help to stop the flow of memories, but he was wrong. Now everywhere he looked it seemed to remind him of her. Because she had been so insistent on being a partner to him, there wasn't on area of his life here that she hadn't touched. Now there wasn't a place that he could look at without hearing her laughter or feeling her presence.

Spike let out a loud, guttural cry of frustration as he picked up the closest object to his hand, a large chunk of tree trunk, and threw it at his shed. For centuries this place had been his sanctuary, his only refuge from everyone and everything that was wrong in his world, in his life. It had become his pride and joy, which had been the primary motivation for him wanting to share it with his Primrose, but now that was all ruined.

Parker wasn't that woman and he had been forbidden to ever see her again. Normally he wouldn't lend any credence to his brother's threats, but this time there had been something different about Thorn's tone. He hadn't just threatened Spike, his older brother had actually sounded like he was pleading with him to stay away from the human. Hearing that tone of voice from Thorn had actually caused Spike to take a moment of pause, which ultimately led to him agreeing to Thorn's terms.

Spike then decided to return to his refuge in order to 'lick his wounds', so to speak. But this place would never be that kind of place for him ever again. He had brought Parker here to make his place like his own Heaven, but now he realized that by doing that all he had done was make it his own personal Hell.

That thought caused a feeling of unmitigated rage that he had never experienced before to course through his veins and ultimately boil over. He was glaring at the shed as if it was to blame for everything that had gone wrong in his life and suddenly it burst into flames. That sight actually caused his lips to curl up slightly into a sinister sneer as another thought came to him. If he could no longer come here for the solace he used to find here, then he would make sure that he was never tempted to visit here ever again.

He moved his incensed glare towards his garden and it too erupted into waist high flames. Spike thought he would feel saddened or pained if anything happened to this place, but as he watched the flames spread towards his orchard, he instead felt a sense of relief. Thorn had warned him when he was younger that he should never allow himself to give into any negative emotions and now he finally understood why he had received those words of caution. The rage he felt was intoxicating and he couldn't wait to feed this new appetite for destruction. Everywhere that he turned his hate-filled gaze burst into a beautiful orange and yellow glow of the all-consuming flames. Once he was sure that the shed, garden and orchard had been turned into a raging inferno, Spike finally turned towards his cabin. As soon as it came into view, he felt a minute stab of pain in his heart. That caused him to pause for a breath, but not even that brief moment of tenderness could quell the rage that had been threatening to overtake him.

He then narrowed his eyes and kept his gaze fixed on the cabin door until it too started to smolder as he whispered, " _Mar sin leat,_ me Primrose."

With those final words of goodbye to a woman he could no longer see or contact in any way, Spike flashed himself to his home realm. For now, it was the only place he could go to until he secured himself a new place to call his own when he needed some time away from his family or anyone else that might cause him to give into his feelings of rage like he had back at his cabin.

"IT WOULD MEAN THAT we would bond our life forces together," Remi answered with his eyes tightly closed.

Parker had tried to give her whole self over to her feelings of gratification so she too had her eyes closed, but they promptly flew open at that reply. Remi's eyes didn't slip open until Parker froze completely in her place. Given their current situation, Parker wasn't prepared for him to have such a worried look in his eye. She knew that he thought that she had stopped because what he had said had scared her. In reality, she had stopped because she wanted to be able to think clearly and there was no way she would be able to do that if he kept clouding her mind with such intense feelings of euphoria.

To try to ease his mind, Parker leaned in to give him a lingering kiss before she said, "Relax Honey. I just... does 'bonded' mean what I think it means?"

Remi gave her a playful smile answering, "Baby, I have a lot of magical powers, but mind reading isn't one of them. Tell me what you think it means and I'll do my best to fill in the blanks."

"Well..." Parker started slowly as she started to rock her hips in a circular motion once again. (It was just too difficult to stay still and that had started to distract her thoughts as well.) "It's like with your _Maman_ and _Papa_... our lives will literally be bonded... connected to each other."

"Yeah... that's... right..."

Parker hugged her arms tightly around his neck and quietly asked with an audible hitch in her voice, "So that means that I'll never have to live without you again?"

Remi raised one hand to rub the back of her head and the other to her back to try to comfort her. After rubbing her back for a couple of breaths, Remi tried to push out of their embrace so that he could see her face, but that just resulted in her clinging to him more tightly. He relented quickly and wrapped his arms around her torso and let her cling to him as much as she needed to right then.

He turned his head so that his lips were closer to her ear as he quietly answered, "That's exactly right."

She shuddered and he couldn't tell if it was caused by pleasure or something else. She seemed content to just keep their bodies connected and pressed together for now, so he tried his best not to move. Although he really wanted to reach his climax, he didn't want to spook Parker, especially if she needed some time to think and to digest everything she had just learned about being mated to a Were-Hunter.

After a couple of silent, agonizing moments, Remi jumped slightly in his spot when he felt Parker's lips press against the skin of his neck. She then kissed her way up to his lips and gave him a rather forceful kiss. He flinched back slightly because he felt her fangs nearly slice into his bottom lip.

Parker leaned back with her hands on his cheeks so that she could make very direct eye contact with him when she finally answered, "Let's do it."

"Parker? Are you...?"

Remi's eyes widened in surprise and he fell completely silent when he felt Parker's fangs pierce his skin. For a moment he was too shocked to do anything, but to try to settle his breathing.

Once his shock had worn off a bit, he stroked the length of her hair gently and asked, "Are you sure?"

Since she couldn't reply verbally because her mouth was kind of full of... well... him and she couldn't nod lest she tear something like an artery or his flesh, Parker raised her hand to the base of his skull. When he didn't make any attempts to move, Parker pressed on his neck to force him forward. Remi quickly took the hint and started to lean forward of his own accord, but she didn't remove her hand just in case he needed any further prompting.

He placed a soft kiss against her neck before he too sank his fangs into her flesh. Parker let out a surprised squeak at the foreign sensation of being bitten, but that was completely muffled by Remi's flesh that was in her mouth. Once she felt him start to feed from her, Parker nearly felt like she was going to pass out because it felt so good.

Her mind could barely keep up with all of the thoughts and feelings that were swirling around in it and before she knew it she had to unlatch her fangs so that she could let out a cry of ecstasy. At the same time Remi let out a strangled moan. They both then let out another happy sound as they finally reached their climax together.

When they finished, Parker lunged forward and hugged his neck tightly, saying, "I love you, Remi."

He heard her stifle a sob into his shoulder, so he hugged her to himself and replied, " _Je t'aime aussi_ , Parker."

Her near sob quickly turned into a chuckle as she pulled back to look at him. The smirk on his face caused her to laugh softly and swat at his chest playfully as she retorted, "Show off."

He actually allowed himself to let out a more boisterous laugh and pulled her into his arms and against his chest once again. He then laid back against the mattress and Parker had no choice but to follow. It took a little bit of maneuvering, but soon enough they were both laying down comfortably under the covers with their heads on the pillows.

Parker picked up his left arm so that she could wrap it around her. Once she was snuggled into his left side, she raised her right hand and then picked up his left with her other hand so that she could look at their palms side by side.

"So? We're actually mated, eh?" She as with her eyes glued to their matching brands.

Remi clasped their hands together so that their mating marks were touching as he answered, "And bonded too. Do you regret it?"

Parker tried to elbow him in his side, but he was holding her too tightly to accomplish that, as she let out an annoyed huff. "You keep talking like that and I might. Why? Do you?"

"Never," he retorted without hesitation. He squeezed her marked hand with his own and added, "And I never will."

"Good answer."

Parker once again snuggled into his side and he wrapped his arms fully around her. She threw her left arm over his torso which allowed him to start to run his fingertips gently up and down her now exposed ribs.

Her breathing started to even out across his chest, so Remi assumed that she had fallen asleep. He continued to almost pet her side while he stared at the ceiling and let his thoughts start to wander.

"Remi?" He more felt the word float across his skin than he actually heard it.

Not wanting to wake Parker in case she was talking in her sleep, he whispered, " _Oui, mon ourson_?"

Parker huffed out a laugh before she used her left hand on his chest to carefully push herself up so that she was now sitting up on the mattress. She remained seated with her back facing him for so long that he raised his hand up to comb his fingers through the ends of her hair. She actually arched her back slightly trying to press more of her flesh against his hand. He then flattened his palm against her back and started to run it up and down her spine.

She twisted at the waist and placed her chin on her shoulder so that she could see him when she asked, "Remi...? Could I...? Would you...?"

She bit her lip demurely and then shook her head to hide her face with her hair. Remi thought he heard her say "forget it" under her breath, so he sat up as well. After he shuffled his body closer to her back, he wrapped his arms around her waist and placed his chin on her right shoulder.

"Parker, you can ask me anything," he replied quietly against her ear.

She hugged his arms that were tightly wound around her waist and let out a heavy sigh. "It's just that... well now that I'm your mate... I mean bonded mate and all, I... I just figure that I should... I mean can I...? You know since we're like married and all...?"

Remi squeezed her torso almost uncomfortably tight to try to help her to focus as he asked, "Can you what, Parker?"

She squirmed in his embrace until he loosened it enough for her to move almost freely. She then turned around to face him and forced herself to say, "I really want to see your natural form. Now that we're mated, we don't have to hide our relationship anymore... which means we can share a room... uhh... y'know, if you want to that is... but I mean we can sleep together now... like actually sleep, not..."

Remi placed his hand against the back of her neck to pull her to him to silence her with a kiss. "Parker, I know what you mean and..." He paused there to try to think of a way to say the next bit so that he wouldn't upset her. "First off, I do want to share a room with you. But I think we'll have to move to another part of the house so we can have a bigger room that will be more comfortable for both of us. Second... we have already slept... well napped together."

"But you've always been human with me. Uhh... I mean I've never felt bear fur when I've been sleeping."

"That's because this IS my natural form."

"No, you and your family are Katagaria."

"Some of us are..."

"No, all of you are," Parker argued over top of the rest of his sentence and looking like she was getting truly upset with him.

Remi gave her a gentle smile and pet one of her cheeks saying, "That's what _Maman_ wanted everyone to think, but _Papa_ was Arcadian, so when we reached puberty, some of us shifted, so to speak, from being Katagaria to Arcadian."

"Really?" She asked sounding much calmer. "So... well now that I'm family, can you tell me who?"

Parker batted her eyes as she turned her head to kiss his hand that was still stroking her cheek. "Well..." He drew out the word like he was seriously contemplating not answering her, when in reality he was just trying to tease her, since she it was so seldom that she gave him such an easy opening to do so.

She didn't hear any of the playfulness he meant to have in his voice, so she glared at him and said, "Fine. If you can't tell me everything about our family, then I guess that means that you don't get to share my body."

It didn't take him long to realize what she meant and he was quick to clarify his mistake. "No! Parker I swear I was just teasing! Of course I'll tell you. I don't ever want there to be secrets between us." One corner of her mouth pulled back as she raised an eyebrow as if to say "Go on". Remi let out an audible sigh and then whispered, "Thank the gods" before he hastily added, "Well you already know about Dev and Aimée..."

He paused when he saw her mouth fall open and her arms fall limply at her sides.

"Shit! You really don't know the truth about any of us?"

"No," Parker answered as she sniffed back some angry tears and crossed her arms over her chest. "I guess the totally open and honest thing only went one way."

She then covered her face with her hands and finally did let out a quiet sob. Remi quickly scrambled across the bed so that he could gather her up into his lap. Much to his relief she immediately snuggled into his chest once she was in his lap and pressed her nose into his neck.

"I told him everything, even... even... oh gods! Every stupid, embarrassing thought," she whispered against his neck. "Gods, I'm such an idiot."

"No, you aren't," Remi gently countered as he rocked her in his lap. "You trusted your friend and believe me when I say that he has kept his word to you and hasn't told a soul any of your secrets."

That got Parker's attention. She sat up with her back ram-rod straight as she gave him a mildly suspicious look and asked, "What do you mean by that?"

"After your first night back, I overheard Aimée bugging Dev more than once about whatever it was that you had told him. All I could catch was that it was something about him making a big deal that he had never told anyone and you still didn't want him to because it was stupid and juvenile." Remi shrugged then added, "Anyway. Personally I don't think you're an idiot for trusting your friend. I hear that that's what they are actually for."

Parker leaned in and rewarded his kind words with a kiss. "Thanks Remi. Now you were saying about your family secret?"

She had moved off his lap so that she could see him better while they talked and let her hands run down the length of his arms until she could slip her fingers against his and lace them together. He gave her hand a soft squeeze and then said, "Okay, so now you know about me, Aimée and Dev... so there's also Quinn, Zar, Cody and Kyle... and... well _Papa_ had been as well."

"Wow. So out of the quads, only Cherif isn't. But I thought that you all were identical. Doesn't that technically mean that you all have the same DNA? So, shouldn't you all have the same natural form or whatever?"

Remi shrugged then replied, "Well since our abilities to shift our forms from animal to human and vice versa are born out of magic, I don't think that scientific reasoning applies in this case."

"Oh, right. Yeah, that makes sense. Okay so if I've heard you right, that means that only Cherif, Etienne, Griffe and Serre are actually Katagaria? Wow. How could you keep it such a secret when the majority of your family are Arcadian?"

Again Remi shrugged and looked the picture of nonchalance while answering, "Would you want to argue with _Maman_?"

Parker paled unconsciously and shivered slightly before she flashed him a cheeky grin replying, "Good point."

She then crawled towards him so that she could sit in his lap again. Once she had her head on his shoulder, she ran her hand across his bare chest in soft circles and asked, "So does that mean that you don't like spending time in your animal form?"

"If you mean 'you' as in Arcadians in general, I honestly can't answer that. But if you mean 'you' as in me personally, then I'd have to answer no. When we were young, the four of us truly were identical. Even in bear form our parents had a hard time telling us apart. But once the three of us changed at puberty, we still practiced keeping our bear form during the day to try to keep our secret. I personally really enjoy spending time in my bear form, especially when we're in the wilderness. It makes me feel... free."

"That must have been hard on you. I mean having to lie to everyone, including your parents. I... I don't doubt your magical abilities at all."

Her head bounced softly against his chest as he chuckled. "Thanks Parker, I'm glad you believe in me. But yeah there were times that it was tough for us. Heck, Cherif even had to jump in once when Dev got hurt because he couldn't keep himself from turning human. It really sucked having to cut him on purpose like that."

"Wow," she whispered in a reverent tone. "It's no wonder that all of you bears are so close and fiercely loyal to each other knowing how scary the secrets are that you all have had to keep."

He squeezed her in his embrace as he answered, "And now you are officially part of the family, so we will protect you and keep your secrets too."

"That's good because I'd really hate to have to call a blood hunt on any of you after everything we've been through lately." Parker felt Remi stiffen in his place so she sat up and started kissing him all over his face saying, "Sorry... sorry... bad... squire... humor." She finished by kissing him on the lips and she sighed into his mouth when she felt him reciprocate the embrace. "I would never threaten anyone in your... our family. Well not in earnest. I can't be held responsible if you ever hear me tell Etienne that I'll have fun feeding him his heart."

Remi let out a loud chuckle then said, "Oh I won't! Hell, I'll be happy to hold him down while you carve it out."

Parker lunged forward to kiss him again. "I knew I loved you for a reason. You are delightfully twisted, Remi Peltier."

"And I am all your, Parker Wallace."

THEY SPENT THE REST of the night at Talon's cabin 'getting reacquainted. Initially Remi had suggested that they return to Peltier House to sleep, but Parker quickly argued that if they were needed for anything everyone knew where to find them. She also added that she was sure that Aimée and Dev would understand that the two of them would want some alone time after everything that had happened. She also reminded him that going home would also mean being grilled by his family about her abduction which she wasn't really ready to talk about, at least not in great depth just yet.

"Again I concede to your logic," Remi replied as he settled against the pillows on the bed.

Parker draped her left arm over his chest and she made herself comfortable at his side. Once again he started to pet her side, she lifted his left hand and said, "You know this doesn't get you off the hook, right?"

"What?" Remi replied sounding like he was half asleep. "What did I do wrong?"

Parker laughed then answered, "Nothing's wrong. But the whole mating marks are traditions from your people. I don't want you to think that means that we don't have to follow any of my people's traditions."

All of the tension she had felt in his body was released as she spoke. He then resumed running his fingertips over her flesh as he said, "And what traditions might those be?"

"Well..." She started slowly. "Now that we're mated... umm... thinks can happen and well... I sort of lied before because... uhh... I always told myself that I wanted to be married before any of those other things could happen."

"Things?" Remi replied trying not to laugh. "Things like us having children?"

He could feel Parker's cheeks heat up against his chest as she meekly replied, "Yeah, mostly that." She quickly sat up and looked pretty frantic as she added, "Not that I'm saying that we have to have kids or start a family or... you know, it's just... well that's an option now, so... I... I just wanted..."

Remi grabbed both of her hands and then pulled her down for a kiss to quiet her ramblings. She melted into the embrace and offered no resistance to him tucking her against his side once again.

"Parker, I would finally consider myself blessed by the gods and the Fates themselves if you would do me the honor of bearing my children," Remi quietly stated against her head.

Parker's heart swelled at hearing him say that and she tried to sniffle back her tears, but she didn't succeed. Instead he felt a couple of moist droplets hit his chest before she sat up to look down at where he remained relaxed against their pillows.

She didn't bother wiping away her tears, so they continued to slowly drip off her chin when she asked, "You really mean that, don't you?"

"Of course I do." He continued to smile up at her and suddenly a box appeared in his hand. He sat up slowly to keep from spooking her any more than he already had while saying, "I don't really know how you want me to do this but..." He lifted the lid of the box to reveal a white gold ring with a large alexandrite, princess cut stone inside. "But... Parker Wallace, would you do me the honor of marrying me?"

Now Parker's tears fell so fast and hard that she could barely see straight and she almost wasn't able to answer, "Yes! Absolutely yes!"

Remi quickly gathered her up into his arms and started to rock her gently from side to side. She immediately wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face into his chest. Her tears continued to flow freely, but her breathing had calmed down considerably. Remi decided to take a chance and carefully lowered the two of them back down on the mattress.

After they settled into their places once again, Parker quietly said, "I think you might need to pinch me because I seriously can't believe this is all real."

Remi reached over but instead of pinching her side, he tickled her ribs. Parker howled out in laughter and tried to squirm her way out of his hold. As she rolled away from him, Remi easy followed her until she was on her back and he was straddling her waist and holding both of her wrists above her head.

"Okay, I believe it's real," she stated through a series of chuckles.

Remi just smirked down at her as he lowered his face to hers to kiss her again. At first she struggled against his hold, but the feel of his lips quickly made her forget all about that. Once he felt her go completely passive under him he rolled over onto his back and pulled her over to blanket his body with hers.

She was laughing so hard that she had to unlatch her lips from his so that she could catch her breath. He reached up and tucked her hair behind her ears as his smile started to wilt at the edges slightly. Parker gently ran two fingers of her right hand against his forehead trying to iron out the frown lines that were forming there.

Before she could question him, Remi quietly said, "I thought I was never going to see you or hold you ever again. I can't really remember a time when I've felt that scared or lost."

"I know Remi," Parker replied before she started to place soft kisses all over his face. "I know. I felt the same way. But you found me and I'm back... forever."

Her lips easily found his and he let her suck his tongue into her mouth and dominate their embrace. Just before her disappearance, she had started to become more comfortable with being the aggressor in the bedroom so he was actually relieved when she so quickly fell back into that roll. He had no idea who had taken her away from him or why. So he was still worried about what they, he, had done to her. After his last visit to her in the Dream Realm, he had worried that she had endured something that would cause her to be almost repulsed by his touch. Now he knew that wasn't true because they had completed the mating ritual, but questions were still running through his mind and dominated his every thought right then.

Parker shuddered and then he felt her tighten around him. Her whole body started to convulse along with her orgasm which helped him to find his own completion. She started kissing him again and Remi nearly started to laugh because he couldn't believe that he had gotten so lost in his own thoughts that he had barely participated in their latest round of love making. He then quickly reminded himself that he would have to make it up to her whenever he got the first chance to do so.

Once their bodies had disconnected again, Parker fell down towards the mattress and pulled Remi down with her. He was more than happy to follow so that he could wrap himself around her like a protective cocoon. She was his mate and now no one could say anything harsh or critical about him wanting to be over protective of her.

Parker rolled over onto her left side so that she could press her back into his chest. Since this was her favorite position in which to fall asleep, he easily wrapped himself around her so that they were both comfortable. She laced the fingers of their right hands together then pressed the large ball of fists against her chest between her breasts and just over her heart. Remi had to stifle a laugh into her hair because this was usually when she cracked a joke about having to hold her Teddy Bear close to her heart so that she could fall asleep soundly. He always told her that he was her good 'Teddy Bear', but this was the first time that he had wanted to shift forms to prove to her that it was true. But he didn't want her to experience him in bear form that way. Even though he knew that she wanted to know him in his other form, he didn't want to show it to her that way. She was always sleepy after multiple orgasms, so him shifting now would only succeed in shocking her, which wouldn't turn out well for him.

Instead he settled against her back before he quietly called out, "Parker? Parker?"

She let out a grumble and a growl that any bearswan could easily rival, which told him she was well on her way to falling into a deep sleep. He wanted to let her do just that, but he had too many nagging questions running through her mind to let himself relax enough to do the same thing.

"Parker," he said with a little more volume. "Baby, I know you don't want to get into any of the heavy topics tonight but I really need to know just one thing that's been eating at me for days now."

She had no qualms of letting him hear her let out an unhappy noise before she answered with a slight hint of a whine in her tone, "And what is that Remi?"

 _Shit!_ He thought when she didn't reply with her own pet name for him. _Okay, let's not make her any angrier than we need to._ "The only thing I really need to know, _mon ourson,_ is... why did he take you away from me?'

He felt her take in a shaky breath and he almost worried that she was going to start to cry again. He hated to hear her when she was in tears, but he would always be by her side to comfort her no matter the reason behind her unhappiness. Now if he thought that he was the reason for her tears, he would never be able to forgive himself until he eased her mind and kissed her tears away.

Thinking he had said the wrong thing, Remi squeezed Parker tightly in his arms. He was ready to tell her to forget that he had asked such a stupid question and to pretend that he hadn't said anything at all when he hear her quietly say, "Teddy Bear." She then started to pet his arms to try to help him to relax so that she could roll over to look at him.

They both had tears glistening in their eyes by the time she settled onto her right side. She ran her left hand across his cheek can swiped her thumb under his eye to catch a stray tear.

"Oh Teddy Bear," she replied with a watery smile. "The easiest answer is that it was the worst case of mistaken identity ever known on the planet."

PARKER TUGGED GENTLY ON Remi's hand to force him to stop just before he opened the front entrance door to Peltier House. She stuck out her bottom lip and had a pout so cute that he wanted to kiss it off her face when she asked, "Do we really have to go back?"

Remi smiled replying, "Offer still stands for us to run away together."

With a heavy sigh, Parker shook her head dejectedly and said, "Don't tempt me, but we can't do that to Aimée. After we tell her we're mated and that we're... well I'm fine, maybe then we can because if we do it now you know she'll hunt us down."

"So true," Remi agreed before kissing her and pulling her through the door.

They had barely made it to the stairs near the front entrance before they heard, "You guys finally made it back. And you both can actually walk!"

Remi let out a growl so fierce it caused Park to grab his arm in both of her hands and pull him back behind her. She made sure to keep one hand on his arm as she replied, "Yes Dev we are and... well I'm not even going to comment on the other... anyway. You need to be nicer to my fiancé or you'll have this Cub to deal with... _nous comprenons nous_?"

She accentuated each work in French by poking her left index and middle fingers into the taller man's chest. Remi watched in amusement as his petite, raven haired beauty backed his brother up a couple of steps. He actually had to bite his lower lip to keep from laughing out loud at the shocked look on Dev's face because he didn't want to do anything to undermine Parker right now. She was on a roll and he felt himself becoming even more attracted to his mate, not that he knew that that was even possible.

Dev felt himself about to take yet another step back when he realized what he was doing and who he was cowering away from, he forced himself not to move. This was HIS little cub who was trying to intimidate him. He was the one she had run to when something had scared her and now she was trying to put the fear of the gods into him? When had that turn of fate happened?

He looked her over and saw the same bright blue eyes that always lit up whenever she had a million questions running through her mind. She still looked like his "little cub", only older and now her porcelain features were framed by hair so black it had to have come from a bottle. And don't start hi on the blue streaks in her hair because when did she become Simi? And...

"Wait!" He nearly shouted as he snatched her left hand up to look at the ring with the sizeable stone that now found a home there. "You said... Holy shit! Aimée! Aims...! Where are you?"

Although her aggravated sigh was too quiet for the three of them to hear they all knew it happened before she replied, "Like I can move that fast! I'm still..."

The rest of her statement was cut off when Dev appeared in the downstairs salon with Parker's hand still engulfed in his own. Aimée startled slightly at their entrance because she knew that he had been close enough to the room to have walked back when he needed to talk to her. To further prove that point, Remi joined the three of them by running into the room to find out what was happening to his mate.

Parker tried in vain to free her hand from his hold, so she balled up her right hand and thumped him on his chest protesting, "What in...! Let me go Dev!"

He ignored her angry words and unsteadiness from teleporting as he pulled her towards where his sister was still seated. Parker tried again to yank her hand out of his ironclad hold as she stumbled a couple of steps and nearly fell over. Even though Dev seemed oblivious to Parker's distress, his siblings were more than acutely aware of her unease. Aimée couldn't do much more than to lean forward to offer a hand to try to steady the human.

Remi, however, moved to Dev's back and was poised to rip him violently away from his mate when he heard his brother say, "Damn it Aims! How much do I owe you now? Because you were totally right!"

Aimée glared at Dev because she had no idea what he was talking about or why it could justify him hurting HER cub. Of course most of Parker's distress was due to her confusion and not actually being in physical pain. But that didn't mean that she didn't practically jump for joy when she felt Dev relinquish his claim on her hand to pass it off to his sister.

As Parker moved to sit on the arm of the chair where Aimée was seated, the bearswan inadvertently yanked on her left hand which caused Parker to stumble again as she exclaimed, "Cub! I didn't..."

Seeing Parker being manhandled by not only Dev, but Aimée too, Remi quickly jumped into action. He used his preternatural speed to rush to Parker's side and scooped her up into his arms. He hadn't counted on his sister not letting go of Parker's hand, so he actually had to take a step closer to Aimée's chair to keep the human from becoming a figurative and literal rope in their accidental game of tug-o-war.

"Remi... Parker..." Aimée nearly whispered as tears welled up in her eyes. "You two... you..."

Parker leaned over and kissed Remi's cheek. He understood that it was her way of telling him that she loved him, but she was uncomfortable with the way the two of them were holding her. He then placed her on her feet so that Aimée wouldn't have to tug as hard on her left arm, but he kept his arms encircled around her waist, loosely but possessively.

"Remi?" Aimée choked out around the tear-filled lump that was forming in her throat. "Did you...?"

"You told me it was her favorite stone, so I asked around until I found a jeweler that could make a ring that suited her," Remi answered so quietly that even Aimée had to strain to her him.

Aimée was beaming with tears streaming down her cheeks as she asked "So you are going to get married on top of being mated?"

Parker slipped her hand out of the bearswan's now slack grip so that she could hug both of her arms around Remi's waist. He shifted his hold on her so that she could tuck herself into his side as she said, "I sort of insisted on it Aims."

Aimée gave her a curt nod then said, "Oh, so it sounds like you have everything all figured out then."

The tone in Aimée's voice made the other three freeze in their spots. The two brothers shared a worried look over Parker's head while she tried to think of a way to fix this situation. When an answer hit her, Parker leaned up to whisper into Remi's ear. For a split second he looked like he didn't trust what she said, but then he nodded and kissed her cheek before he too whispered something into her ear.

Parker nodded then moved towards Aimée's side. She perched on the arm of the antique armchair where Aimée had made her post and said, "All that I've planned out is that I want the reception to be held at Sanctuary. Remi said something about having an in with the owners... Everything else... To be honest Aims, I'm totally lost, so I would really love if you could maybe help me with all of it."

"Really?" The other woman replied without trying to hide her shock.

"Really," Parker nearly exclaimed as she hugged Aimée's neck. "You're my Momma Bear, so how could you ever think that I'd leave you out of it?"

"Well Cub," she started as she hugged her soon to be sister in law back just as fiercely as the human held her. "I'll have to blame it all on the baby hormones, okay?"

"Absolutely more than okay."

The two brothers let the two women embrace as they chattered back and forth about wedding ideas. They seemed to settle into their conversation and seemed to be happy to ignore the males in the room.

Dev slowly moved to his brother's side and gently elbowed him in the ribs. When Remi moved his gaze away from Parker, Dev rolled his eyes as if to say "women, right?", but Remi wouldn't rise to the bait. He just glared at his brother before he quickly turned his eyes back to Parker and they instantly softened.

Dev was slightly annoyed at the scene before him because they were all supposed to be happy that Parker was home. They were supposed to be elated that Remi had found his mate and completed the ritual and yet here they were all on the verge of tears. And they didn't necessarily appear to be happy tears to Dev, so he wanted to remedy that as soon as possible.

"So Remi?" He asked loud enough to get the women's attention. "I guess this means that you'll have to have that sit down with Talon sooner than later, huh?"

That comment earned Dev another glare from his brother. It also piqued Parker's interest and the look on Remi's face made her even more curious. She tried to catch Remi's eye, but he was too focused on glaring at his brother to take notice of his mate.

She then stood up and took a step closer to the brothers asking, "What did he say to you Remi?"

He then finally turned his attention to his mate and answered, "We had a bit of a pow wow with a group of our friends and allies to brainstorm about how to find you. Of course Aimée asked Talon to come and he's decided that since both of your parents have passed away that he'll take on the role of your surrogate father when it comes to matters of marriage and stuff."

Parker gasped and clamped her hand over her mouth to stifle a groan. "What did he say to you? He... he wasn't like... was he really mean? I can talk to him about that if you want."

Remi wrapped Parker in a tight hug and kiss her head before replying against her hair, "Don't worry yourself about it, _mon ourson_. I'm not afraid of the Celt at all. Plus, he was just looking out for you because he loves you. That's definitely something he and I actually agree on, so I'll let him have his little sit down with me... just this once."

"Okay, so long as he wasn't mean to you," she replied. Parker then went up on her tip toes and whispered into his ear, "And that you behave yourself with him, Teddy Bear."

"You two are just so cute it hurts!" Aimée exclaimed from behind them. "I'm so glad that you two were mated because you're kind of perfect together!"

Parker's cheeks rouged as she tucked herself even further into Remi's side. He squeezed her torso into his hip to help to comfort her. He didn't have to look at her to know that Aimée's comment had embarrassed her and caused her to blush profusely. He could also see that his comforting his mate had caused his sister's smile to grow which he was sure was making Parker's blush to darken.

"Well on that note, I think Parker and I are going to turn in for the day," Remi finally commented after a couple of uncomfortably silent minutes.

"Didn't you two just spend the whole night..."

"DEV!" Aimée and Parker shouted to cut him off.

Aimée glared at him while he covered his mouth to try to muffle his laughter. Knowing she wasn't going to get anywhere with him, she turned her attention back to the happy couple and said, " _Faites de beaux rêves_ , you two."

Parker walked over to Aimée and kissed her on the cheek before replying, " _Toi aussi_. And I'll make sure to be up in time to help with the dinner rush, okay?"

Aimée held her cheeks answering, "Only if you're feeling up for it, Cub. We all know that you've been through a lot, so don't push it on our account, okay?"

"Okay."

"And..." Dev added with a chuckle. "Make sure you can still walk before you start making promises like that."

Remi let out a menacing growl, but Dev disappeared before he could reach him. Parker rushed over to Remi's side and hugged him tightly. She let out a relieved sigh when she felt all of the tension release from his body. She knew Remi hated to be teased which she also knew was the reason that Dev continued to do it so incessantly.

"Babe, you know he only says stuff like that to yank your chain," she whispered against his chest. "If he didn't get a rise out of you then he'd stop doing it."

"I don't care what he says about me, but when he says shit like that about you…"

Parker kissed him to cut him off then said, "I don't care either because I know he's just being a goof and doesn't mean it. Now, Teddy Bear, let's go get some sleep okay?"

"Your wish is my command," he replied with a smile before he teleported them to her bedroom (because she had the bigger bed between the two of them after all).


	15. Epilogue

Parker triple checked her reflection in the floor length mirror before she gave any thought to the items that she had seemingly abandoned on the vanity behind her. She normally wasn't overly concerned with her appearance and had become even less so once she started fooling around with Remi, except for a few rare occasions. But for some reason today was totally different. Why that was happening now was a complete mystery to her, but it was beyond important all the same. 

Once she was certain that every hair was in its place and that her dress looked smooth, she turned to walk back over to her vanity. As Remi had predicted, they did move to a bigger room at Peltier House so that they would be more comfortable. Parker had liked the set up in her first room there that Remi had insisted that she bring most of her furniture to their new room. 

Parker smiled to herself at that thought because she barely said "mine" anymore. No, now it was pretty much always 'ours'. She never knew how amazing it could be to share practically everything in her life with someone. Since she an only child, everything she  owned was hers and hers alone and she was never really expected to share, although she would share anything she owned with anyone who asked without complaint, even as a young child. After they had decided to share a space, Parker almost worried that she might have difficulties with it, but so far there had been no issues. She joked with Aimée that she was sure that it must be some sort of magic that came with being mated because some days it felt too good to be true. 

At her vanity, Parker stared down at the white envelope she had placed there. She then picked up a pen to address it, but as she moved the tip of the pen closer to the paper, her hand started to quiver. She pulled her hand away and shook it vigorously in the hopes that she could relieve her nervous tension. 

"Come on Parker, it's just a name. Four little letters," she whispered to herself as she made yet another attempt to address the envelope. "Or maybe you could just put his first initial on it." 

With a quakey motion, she started to press the tip of the pen to the paper. Parker knew that her nerves would never permit her to write out his name smoothly, but she hoped that a single letter would at least be legible. Then again, as soon as she placed it in his hands he would be sure to know that it was for him. 

Just as she was about to scroll out a quick initial, Parker was interrupted by someone knocking on the door. Her mind and gaze remained so completely focused on the envelope that she actually jumped when she heard them knock again. 

"Parker?" Aimée called out from the other side of the door. "Sweetie, are you having troubles with your wardrobe again?" 

Hearing her soon to be sister in law's question made Parker laugh because of the memory that comment had evoked. Last time that happened Parker had managed to make it look like a hurricane had plowed through her room because she had had no idea what to wear to meet her potential new employer. Today she hadn't had that issue because she had picked out her dress months in advance. In fact, it was Bride who had called her when it had arrived at her store because she was sure that Parker would fall in love with it instantly. 

She quickly picked up the crop shrug that matched her navy crushed velvet, knee length spaghetti strapped dress before she rushed to the door to meet Aimée. The bearswan was beaming as she watched Parker slip on the shrug, but she saved her comments because she could tell that Parker was about to speak. 

"I'm so sorry, Aims," the human apologized quickly. "I totally lost track of the time. Is everyone here? Can I help with anything? Is the food getting cold?" 

Aimée clamped her hands onto Parker's shoulders and made very direct eye contact with her as she replied, "Cub, it's alright. Everything is taken care of and we're still waiting on a few people to arrive before we sit down to dinner. I was just worried about you because you've seemed a little distracted these last couple of days." 

Parker's cheeks rouged and she tried not to look too guilty as she replied, "I know, it's just... well... It's my.... well you know, since Remi and I and all..." 

"I know Cub," Aimée mercifully cut in. "I know. But we've considered you a part of the family since you were a little girl. You being Remi's mate just made it official." 

Parker pulled Aimée into a hug. She had always considered her closest friends as part of her extended family, so she hated that she couldn't be completely honest with Aimée or anyone else right now. Soon she would have to face the brutal truth, but until then she had to keep it to herself and keep up appearances. 

That, of course, was easier said than done because she knew that both Dev and Aimée had somewhat of a sixth sense about her emotions. Remi was starting to develop on too, which made the butterflies in her stomach start to flutter wildly. She somehow managed to keep her breathing steady and even as she eased out of her embrace to give Aimée what she hoped was a carefree, easy-going smile. 

"Thanks again Aims. I know I'm being silly but I still feel really nervous." 

"That's okay Sweets. But just keep reminding yourself that we all love you and one little dinner isn't going to change that." 

"Little? Ha! Since when has a Peltier Family Christmas dinner ever been 'little'?" 

Aimée let out a beautiful laugh then replied, " _Touché._ That's very true, Cub." She then made a point to rub her protruding belly as she added, "And it isn't looking like it will be getting smaller any time soon." 

"Very good point. Alright," Parker paused to straighten out her shrug so that the small, silver beaded snowflake accents were laying flat on her chest. "Let's not keep everyone waiting then." 

She presented her friend her bent left arm and Aimée slipped her right arm through it replying, " _On y va_." 

Once they made it into the dining room of Sanctuary, Parker immediately felt the knot in her stomach tighten. Like Aimée had pointed out, this wasn't her first time attending a Holiday dinner at Sanctuary, so she tried to remind herself that it was all in her head. She was the one psyching herself out about this evening and she needed to just calm down. Or start thinking about something else so that she would stop obsessing about... 

"Simi and Ash are here," Aimée said, drawing Parker out of her thoughts. "I'm sure they'd love to see you." 

"Sure, I'll go find them in a minute, but first..." Parker replied sounding somewhat distracted. "Have you seen Remi? I mean, do you know where he might be right now?" 

Aimée laughed and gave Parker an enthusiastic hug saying, "Of course, I should have known you'd want to see your mate first. Last I saw him, he was backstage working on something for the show tonight to help out Cody." 

"Oh, right. He had mentioned something about that before he left our room. Thanks Aims." 

"Anytime Cub." 

Aimée was still chuckling softly to herself as she watched Parker maneuver through the crowded dining room. The human tried to move as quickly as possible to the backstage area, but she had to stop periodically to talk with some of the other party-goers to keep from being overtly rude. Luckily most of them were Were-Hunters with their own mates, so they more than understood when she apologized for being so brief because she was trying to find Remi. 

It felt like it had taken her forever to get to the door to the rear of the stage, but it took her no time at all to find Remi. He had his back to her and was kneeling on the floor working on one of the speakers. As soon as he came into view, Parker sucked in a breath and she felt her pulse rate start to speed up. She still couldn't believe that such a gorgeous specimen of pure male perfection would want to be mated to her, but here she stood with the mark on her had to prove that they belonged to each other. 

As she stood there watching him work, Remi started to turn to face her, almost as if he could sense her presence. Once he had almost fully turned around, he started to rise to his feet. Before Parker could register that she was looking into her mate's face, Remi had crossed the room and had scooped her up into his arms for a loving embrace. 

"That dress is beautiful," he remarked as he placed her back on her feet. 

She smiled demurely and tucked a look of her faded blue hair behind her ear with a barely audible, "Thanks." 

"Not that that's a surprise," he continued, seemingly not noticing that Parker was looking somewhat uncomfortable. "Because there isn't much that you could wear that could be diminish your beauty." 

"Thanks Remi," Parker answered with more volume in her voice. "Bride has a really great eye for fashion. I'll have to remember to thank her again." 

"I'll have to as well," he playfully retorted as he moved to hug her again. 

Parker quickly took a step back and away from Remi. He froze in his place and she visibly cringed at the hurt look on his face. She wanted nothing more than to run into his arms and kiss that look off of his face, but she had sought him out of a specific reason and she would not allow herself to be deterred from her goal. 

"Remi...? There's... uhh... That is to say, I..." Looking as flustered as she sounded, Parker shook her head and the she pulled out her left hand from behind her. Remi's eyes flicked from the white envelope covered in silver glitter with a large "R" scrolled on it to Parker's face. She wouldn't make eye contact with him as she pushed it into his hand saying, "Here, take this. It should be able to explain everything better than I can." 

Remi cautiously claimed the envelope from her, but he looked like he was worried that it might explode in his hand. That fear appeared to have been heightened when he saw Parker take another large step away from him. She kept her eyes laser focused on his hands, so he flipped over what he thought was a card or a letter to open it. On the back was a familiar snowflake sticker. Although neither of them were Christian, Parker still used the festive season as an excuse to send out cards and letters to her friends. This year she had been particularly excited because she could gloat that she had been mated to a Were-Hunter (and a Peltier no less!) and that they were engaged to be married. For her true, close friends it was a head's up that they would be receiving invitations to the wedding. For the rest, it was just a fun way for her to brag. 

Remi smiled down at the image of the snowflake as his finger gently caressed it. He then let out a breath to steady himself before he carefully tor opened the envelope. Inside he found what he thought was an index card. After he slowly pulled it out, he saw a note written in Parker's beautiful cursive writing saying, "I THINK WE HAVE TO POSTPONE THE WEDDING." 

He forced himself to re-read the note at least three times in the hopes that the words would say something different. When they didn't change, his head shot up so that he could look at Parker and nearly shouted, "You can't be serious!" 

Parker was no longer looking at him. Instead she had retreated a few more steps back towards the door and had her gaze fixed on her hands that were fidgeting with the hem of her dress. "It's just... I mean... it makes the most sense and all." 

"No, Baby it doesn't. This makes no sense to me AT ALL. I thought this is what you wanted. I thought you loved me." 

"I did... I mean I do... but..." She let out a heavy sigh and finally lifted her head to look him in the eye. "I do love you. You're my Teddy Bear, but... well... the timing just won't be right. Plus, I said 'postpone' not 'cancel'." 

Remi's eyebrows knitted into a deep scowl as he said, "Okay, so you're still in love with me, you're still my mate, you still want to be my wife, just not yet? Did I hear that right? What does that mean?" 

Parker's scowl deepened as she replied, "Remi Peltier... Did you just read the back and then jump to all of sorts of conclusions?" 

Remi started to return her glare with one of his own, but then he realized that she was right. She had been working on not letting her thoughts run away with her when they were talking and he in turn was supposed to be working on not jumping to conclusions and letting his anger get the best of him. Both had been succeeding for the most part, but when their emotions were running high they both seemed to fall back into their old bad habits all too easily. 

Seeing his cheeks start to turn pink extinguished all of Parker's anger. She then walked over to him and gently extracted the envelope from his grasp as she said, "I guess that also means that you didn't notice that my note was written on photo paper then either, eh Teddy Bear?" Remi had the good grace to look embarrassed as he shook his head. Parker then went up on her tiptoes to place a soft kiss on his lips. When she was back on her feet she held up the photo (with the photo side showing) for him to see. "Does this explain it enough for you?" 

Remi's eyes bulged out as his hands reclaimed the photo without any conscious thought. Parker fought not to laugh at his reaction. He remained silent as he started to scrutinize the photo like it was a priceless piece of artwork. Parker then started to try to shadow him as he was pacing because she knew that once he had processed what he was looking at that he would have questions for her, so she wanted to stay as close to him as possible. 

Remi suddenly stopped which caused Parker to run into his back as he asked, "Does this mean...?" 

"Cub? Are you alright?" Aimée called out sounding out of breath from where she was standing at the door. 

Parker turned to reply to her friend but she was quickly interrupted by her other best-friend calling out from behind her, "Parker? Is everything okay?" 

Suddenly Fang flashed in behind Aimée as he check in on his mate. Parked made her way to Remi's side as the room started to feel like it was being filled with Were-Hunters and a few Dark-Hunters as well. Neither Parker nor Remi noticed how everyone arrived, but soon enough the backstage area felt like it was full of their friends and family (not that it was difficult to achieve because of the small size of the room). 

Parker snuggled into Remi's side as she whispered, "Teddy Bear? What do we do?" 

Before Remi could reply everyone went silent when a very imposing looking Acheron flashed into the room at Parker's side. To be fair though Acheron's sheer size was imposing enough without his vintage punk rock look or death god air. He seemed to only have eyes for Parker as he asked, "Is everything alright? Everyone seems to be worried that they saw Aimée running this way because she thought you were having troubles Parker." 

She shared a look with Remi and then took the picture out of her mate's hand to pass it to Acheron. The Atlantean's eyes went wide for a split second because he now finally understood why everyone was so up in arms. 

Acheron then turned towards the young couple so that he could very loudly say, "Congratulations you tow. Your babies are so blessed to have you as parents." 

Parker gave Acheron wide eyes because even she hadn't known for sure if they were having multiples or not. Remi gave her an almost hurt look so she quickly added, "The doctor said it was too soon to tell anything beyond the fact that I'm definitely pregnant. He said that because of your family tree that it was likely but..." She then directed her commentary towards the leader of the Dark-Hunters as she asked, "Acheron? Are you saying...? Are Remi and I...? Should we be thinking of more than just two names?" 

It had been a while since Acheron had found himself almost being an Oracle for anyone close to him, so he wasn't sure what to say. He had had a very vivid image of the day that Parker would be giving birth, but he didn't want to ruin the surprise for either of them, so he simply replied, "It might be for the best." 

"Best?" Parker nearly shouted. "Come on Ash! How many more? Two of each or three of each or...?" 

Acheron reached out a hand to pet Parker's cheek so that she would fall silent. "How about I don't completely ruin the surprise for you two and just say that you should try to come up with two names for each sex instead." 

"Two...?" Parker started to stutter. "Ash...? Am I...? Am I having a litter?" 

Acheron let out a hearty laugh that filled the room and silenced every single whisper before he replied, "Parker... Remi... I don't want to take the fun of finding out away from you. Just know that you will be blessed with more than one child. Beyond that..." Acheron then mimed securing his lips with an invisible lock and key. 

Seeing one of the most powerful beings on the planet force themselves not to spoil the future for them caused Parker to sputter out a laugh before it turned into a quiet sob. Acheron took a step forward to offer to comfort her until he heard a familiar sing-song voice call out, "Parker-Cub, you...? Why? Parker-Cub, who has made you cry? The Simi will fry them and eat them for breakfast for hurting you!" 

Parker sputtered out another tearful laugh as she replied, "Simi, these are tears of joy. If I sound like I might be scared it's because Acheron just told us... uhh... Remi and I that is... he just told us some really surprising news." 

Simi scowled then asked, "So it was Akri... Akri told Parker-Cub something that made her cry?" 

"Not like you think," Parker answered as she took a couple of steps towards the winged fairy-like demon girl. "Simi? I'm... I'm going to have my very own cub... or two or three or maybe more. I'm kind of scared that I won't be able to take care of all of them.... and your... umm... Acheron was trying to help us which made me so happy that I started to cry." 

"So, Akri made you so happy that you burst?" Simi asked before she added in a faux whisper, "Because I can't fry Akri Parker-Cub. The Simi has to protect him no matter what, but Simi doesn't want her Parker-Cub to be hurting." 

"And I'm not!" Park jumped in quickly as she once again stepped into Remi's side. "I'm going to be a Momma Bear Simi. Do you know what that means?" 

The little demon's eyes went comically wide before she answered enthusiastically, "The Simi gets to give them cubs all hornays?" 

Parker sniffled in a breath as she laughed and then replied, "Of course it does Simi. But you have to make sure that they are removable just like the ones you gave me when I was a little girl, okay?" 

"Okay!" Simi shouted before she clapped her hands and rubbed them together. "How many hornays do you need?" 

"Well..." Remi jumped in sounding very unsure and a little frightened.  

Parker quickly elbowed him in the side hard enough to make her mate take in a deep breath before she answered, "Simi, I just found out that I'm having babies. I'm sorry, but I'm only human, so it will be a while before I... we know for sure." 

Simi nearly bounced over to Parker's side and tapped the human's head before jovially saying, "And those are for my Parker-Cub so that she can show her own cubs how beautiful their hornays will make them look." 

Simi then flounced her way out of the room with more than one mention that she was hungry. Parker was still laughing as she maneuvered into a modified side hug with Remi. 

"Don't worry Remi," she said quietly as she wrapped her arms around his waist. "All of the horns she gave me as a little girl were removable, I'm sure she will honor that request." 

"So these ones are too then?" 

She raised her hand to her head and lifted the horns to show him that they were in fact on an elastic string. "Of course they are." 

"Good, good. So back to this whole postponing the wedding..." 

"Postpone!?" Aimée shouted when she over heard her brother. "Why would you suggest such a thing?" 

Parker opened her mouth to speak, but Remi squeezed her shoulders with the arm he had wrapped around them. She immediately understood that it was his way of asking for her to stay quiet, so she did. He then squeezed her again to silently thank her. 

"We were discussing it as a possibility because if we wait until the summer like we had planned then there is no way that Parker's dress will fit. And we all know how hard it was for her to find a dress that she truly loves." 

"True, but instead of postponing it, why don't we have it before she starts to show and the dress still fits?" Aimée countered. 

Remi shrugged then looked down at Parker to say, "You did say you wanted to be married before you and I started our family. What do you think?" 

"I'd have to check with the dress shop because they were going to do some alterations," Parker replied with a large smile on her face. 

Aimée quickly scooped Parker into her arms and cried out, "Perfect! Once we know when they can have it done, we'll have our new date!" 

"Really?" Parker asked as she hugged her friend. "You think that we can get everything switched to an earlier date?" 

"For you Cub we will. Now come on, the foods probably getting cold by now." 

"Alright. Thanks Aimée." 

Aimée gave Parker one last squeeze before she let her go. She then moved over to where Fang was standing and waiting for her. Once she was released Parker moved back to her mate's side and wrapped her arms around him. 

"So Teddy Bear? Are you okay with the change in the timeline?" 

Remi hugged her tightly and said, " _Mon ourson_ , you know that as long as you are happy, I'm happy. So are you?" 

"No," Parker replied with a chuckle. "I'm ecstatic." 

 

 


End file.
